SERPENT WORSHIP, 'CHARMING; ETC. 513 



bitten, and died in seven hours, notwithstanding native 

 nostrums.' A woman bitten died in three hours ' in spite of 

 incantations' \ 'A man bitten while asleep had ''leaves to 

 snieli;' but nevertheless died in three hours ! ' ' Woman bitten 

 at night, got up and had inuntras (chantings) to expel the 

 poison. She died four hours after the bite notwithstanding ; 

 and her infant at the breast died two hours after partaking 

 the maternal nutriment.' And many similar cases. What 

 wonder, then, with this miserable fatalism prevailing over 

 that vast and densely-populated country, that death by snake- 

 bites should amount to many thousands annually ? One 

 more case must be recorded to show how deeply rooted the 

 faith. A tall, strong young man was bitten in the hand, 

 while sleeping out of doors. No medicine was given, but 

 incantations were muttered over him. In an hour he was a 

 corpse : yet the village where this happened continues to do 

 Poojah (adoration) to the cause of the evil. By far the 

 largest percentage of deaths is attributable to the cobra, 

 though this is not a proof that its numbers predominate so 

 much above other snakes, as of the religious veneration in 

 which it is everywhere held. It is found all over the 

 peninsula, even as high as 8000 feet on the sunny slopes of 

 the Himalayas. The names of castes, Nag, Ndgo, Ndgojee^ 

 Ndgowa, etc., found among all classes of Hindoos, have all 

 reference to the Nag or N^dja deities, says Colonel Meadows 

 Taylor. To this author, as well as to Forbes, Ferguson,^ 

 Fayrer, and Miss Frere," the reader is referred in verification 

 of the above. If further to pursue the subject of snake 



1 Tj-ee and Serpent Worship, 2(1 ed., by J. Ferguson. London, 1873. 

 ^ Old Deccan Days. London, 1870. 



2 K 



