PETS. 205 



that the discovery of a new law of nature would enable 

 any man to work apparent miracles ; and there is no 

 doubt that the out-door life of such long-headed barba- 

 rians as the Chinese and Hindoos has put them on the 

 track of some useful zoological secrets. Observation 

 and invention are two widely-different faculties ; the 

 crude empiricism of our forefathers has led to sundry 

 discoveries which our analytical methods might have 

 failed to achieve. Besides, the East-Indian beast- 

 charmers belong to a special caste, a corporation that 

 has carefully preserved its trade secrets. For, in Hindo- 

 stan, snake-charming is a branch of a regular business 

 that includes horse-breaking, rat-catching, monkey-train- 

 ing, and other occupations that must give their adepts a 

 peculiar insight into the faculties and foibles of animal 

 nature. A tame snake is only a side-show of the Guru- 

 walla, or travelling vermin-destroyer; or, so to say, a 

 living diploma of his mastership. He uses a trained 

 cobra as a business-advertisement. 



Jugglers with dancing snakes are seen on every Ben- 

 gal market-place, but the grand masters of their craft 

 exhibit very different tricks. Lord Dalhousie's guru- 

 walla-en-chef used to call rats from their holes in broad 

 daylight, and had a water-snake that followed him like a 

 dog and could not be driven out of the room as long as 

 its master was present. He had evidently established 

 some hold on the affections of his strange pet, for he 

 never failed to bring her back by a single whistle after 



