206 SNAKE 



hibit the fight, in most cases,, first deprive 

 the snake of his venomous teeth, as they very 

 unwillingly allow the Mungoose to attack 

 a snake fresh caught. I have had a dozen 

 fowls bitten by the same snake; the first died 

 in a few seconds, and so on, each in a propor- 

 tionably longer time, to the twelfth, which 

 was more than an hour in dying. 



The snake catchers always carried off the 

 bodies to eat, which shews that the poison 

 does not much affect the alimentary canal, 

 as Fontana proved on himself respecting 

 vipers. The professed snake catchers in 

 India are a low cast of Hindoos, wonderfully 

 clever in catching snakes, as well as in prac- 

 tising the art of legerdemain : they pretend 

 to draw them from their holes by a song, and 

 by an instrument somewhat resembling an 

 Irish bagpipe, on which they play a plaintive 

 tune. 



The truth is, this is all done to de- 

 ceive. If ever a snake comes out of a hole 



