SNAKE CHARMING. 205 



CHAPTER XXV. 



SNAXE CHARMING AND SNAKE CHARMER. 



ON the subject of snake charming, a wide diversity of 

 opinion seems to exist. While it is vouched for by many 

 apparently creditable and honest citizens, that the exhibitions of 

 the East Indian snake charmers show that they really do pos- 

 sess some mysterious power over the reptiles to which they owe 

 their safety in freely handling the most venomous serpents, 

 on the other hand, persons apparently qualified to express an 

 opinion, declare the whole system of snake charming to be but 

 some clever impositions. There is said to exist a species of 

 snake of large size, and so closely resembling the deadly cobra, 

 as to be easily mistaken for it by ordinary observers, but which 

 is perfectly harmless. May not this be used in some of these 

 performances ? Again, snakes of really poisonous species ap- 

 pear, on good authority, in many instances, to have been tam- 

 pered with by the charmers by having their fangs removed, or 

 l3y being made to strike them into cloth or other substances un- 

 til the present supply of poison was exhausted. Where this 

 has been done, and new fangs have grown, or more poison 

 secreted, numerous charmers have lost their lives by their 

 ignorance or carelessness of the fact. An officer in a French 

 regiment stationed in Africa, relates that what were represented 

 by an Arab juggler to be scorpions, were actually nothing but 

 harmless lizards, and that the man's feat of thrusting his naked 

 hand into the bag containing them was no feat at all. Upon 

 the officer offering to do the same act, the juggler slunk away. 



Music is often referred to as a probable secret of snake 

 charming. This may be, in a small measure, the case, as snakes 

 appear to like music. A story is told by the Gipps Land (Aus- 

 tralia) Guardian, which may be entirely true, or, probably, 

 founded on truth : 



" We have all heard of the charms of music," says the paper, 

 " and many have, no doubt, been treated to stories which de- 

 scribed its influence when brought to bear upon snakes ; but we 

 are informed of an occurrence during the past season which sur- 

 passes all that we heard before. When Mr. S was one 



day coming from Traralgon towards Rosedale, he was indulging 

 himself in whistling a melodious air, while bis horse was taking 

 it easy at a walk. At no great distance in front he espied a 

 good sized snake, with its head elevated about twelve inches 

 from the ground, as if listening to the tune of the equestrian. 



