171 



threw his hatchet into the sea ; it flew as far as Gokarnam, 

 and so far the sea receded, all along the coast. He then 

 rendered the land stable by foundations of gold and brought 

 in Brahmins from diflferent countries ; but the newly formed 

 land was so infested with snakes that the colonists would 

 not stay and returned to their own countries, leaving 

 Kerala to the Nagattanmar (nagas or naga-demons). Para- 

 suramen went in search of new colonists, and having brought 

 Arya Brahmans he divided the land into 64 gramams, 

 (parishes) and in each allotted a part to the snakes. He 

 ordered that the snakes sh.ould be propitiated by puja and 

 regarded as household divinities, and this being done the 

 colonists were troubled by them no more. 



When we find leojends of this kind interwoven with the 

 religion and history of the people it is not to be wondered 

 at that destruction of snakes is as unpopular with them as 

 it is popular with us. Snakes do us no appreciable harm 

 but the majority of English people hate them for religious 

 reasons as much as the Hindus venerate them for religious 

 reasons ; however, before we attempt to carry out our 

 fanatical or prejudiced hatred of them, it is well to see 

 whether such measures might not possibly be injudicious, 

 from a moral point of view, as well as impotent and wasteful 

 of public money. The Hindu religion is decaying from 

 contact with western civilization, the veneration for snakes 

 is dying out, and, before long, whenever these become 

 a decided nuisance, people will at once proceed to thin their 

 numbers without scruple and without the incitement of 

 reward. In the meantime let snakes be studied by the light 

 of science, free from the influence of legend and prejudice. 



