BOA

boa, a name formerly applied to all large serpents which, devoid of poison fangs, kill their prey by constriction; but now confined to that subfamily of the _boidae_ which are devoid of teeth in the praemaxilla and are without supraorbital bones. the others are known as pythons (q.v.). the true boas comprise some forty species; most of them are american, but the genus _eryx_ inhabits north africa, greece and south-western asia; the genus _enygrus_ ranges from new guinea to the fiji; _casarea dussumieri_ is restricted to round island, near mauritius; and two species of _boa_ and one of _corallus_ represent this subfamily in madagascar, while all the other boas live in america, chiefly in tropical parts. all _boidae_ possess vestiges of pelvis and hind limbs, appearing externally as claw-like spurs on each side of the vent, but they are so small that they are practically without function in climbing. the usually short tail is prehensile. one of the commonest species of the genus _boa_ is the _boa constrictor_, which has a wide range from tropical mexico to brazil. the head is covered with small scales, only one of the preoculars being enlarged. the general colour is a delicate pale brown, with about a dozen and a half darker cross-bars, which are often connected by a still darker dorso-lateral streak, enclosing large oval spots. on each side is a series of large dark brown spots with light centres. on the tail the markings become bolder, brick red with black and yellow. the under parts are yellowish with black dots. this species rarely reaches a length of more than 10 ft. it climbs well, prefers open forest in the neighbourhood of water, is often found in plantations where it retires into a hole in the ground, and lives chiefly on birds and small mammals. like most true boas, it is of a very gentle disposition and easily domesticates itself in the palm or reed thatched huts of the natives, where it hunts the rats during the night. the term "boa" is applied by analogy to a long article of women's dress wound round the neck. boabdil (a corruption of the name abu abdullah), the last moorish king of granada, called _el chico_, the little, and also _el zogoybi_, the unfortunate. a son of muley abu'l hassan, king of granada, he was proclaimed king in 1482 in place of his father, who was driven from the land. boabdil soon after sought to gain prestige by invading castile. he was taken prisoner at lucena in 1483, and only obtained his freedom by consenting to hold granada as a tributary kingdom under ferdinand and isabella, king and queen of castile and aragon. the next few years were consumed in struggles with his father and his uncle abdullah ez zagal. in 1491 boabdil was summoned by ferdinand and isabella to surrender the city of granada, and on his refusal it was besieged by the castilians. eventually, in january 1492, granada was surrendered, and the king spent some time on the lands which he was allowed to hold in andalusia. subsequently he crossed to africa, and is said to have been killed in battle fighting for his kinsman, the ruler of fez. the spot from which boabdil looked for the last time on granada is still shown, and is known as "the last sigh of the moor" (_el ultimo suspire del moro_). see j.a. conde, _dominacion de los arabes en espana_ (paris, 1840), translated into english by mrs j. foster (london, 1854-1855); washington irving, _the alhambra_ (new york, ed. 1880).