The Spectator's Notes

17 March 2007

Brigadier James Ellery, who was in charge of 7,000 UN troops in southern Sudan in 2006, gave a talk on the subject in London last week. Because James had been my host when I visited the Sudan in September, I was asked to introduce him. It was a brilliant talk, but the bit that the entire audience at the Rifles Club will remember came right at the end. James showed a slide of a python with its mouth wide open and its fangs caught on some wire. He asked each of us to write on a card what we thought was the story behind the picture and attach money in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund. The winner got a cut of the money. The Prince of Wales, who was the guest of honour, wrote ‘He’s swallowed a cow!’ I thought this was far-fetched, but it turned out to be overcautious. When we had all handed in our entries, James Ellery showed a slide of the entire python. It had crept up on a sleeping security guard, strangled him and then swallowed him whole. You could see the body of the poor man silhouetted in the belly of the snake, almost as in a cartoon. Struggling with the weight of its lunch, the python had caught its fangs on the perimeter fence, and died. This gruesome scene gave everyone enormous pleasure.

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