.CHAP. III.] WATEfc-SXAKES. 197 



the fact is very dubious. I have heard of the cobra being 

 found on the crown of a coco-nut palm, attracted, it was 

 said, by the toddy which was flowing at the time, it 

 being the season for drawing it. 



Water-Snakes. The fresh- water snakes, of which several 

 species * have been described as inhabiting the still water 

 and pools, are all harmless in Ceylon. A gentleman, who 

 found near a river an agglutinated cluster of the eggs of 

 one variety (Tftpidonotus stolatus?), placed them under a 

 glass shade on his drawing-room table, where one by one 

 the young serpents emerged from the shell to the number 

 of twenty. 



The use of the Pamboo-Kaloo, or snake-stone, as a 

 remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has 

 probably been communicated to the Singhalese by the 

 itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from 

 the coast of Coromandel; and more than one well- 

 authenticated instance of its successful application has 

 been told to me by persons who had been eye-wit- 

 nesses to what they described. On one occasion, in 

 March, 1854, a friend of mine was riding, with some 

 other civil officers of the government, along a jungle 

 path in the vicinity of Bintenne, when they saw one of 

 two Tamils, who were approaching them, suddenly dart 

 into the forest and return, holding in both hands a 

 cobra de capello which he had seized by the head and 

 tail. He called to his companion for assistance to 

 place it in their covered basket, but, in doing this, he 

 handled it so inexpertly that it seized him by the 

 linger, and retained its hold for a few seconds, as if 

 unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed, and 

 intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately ; 

 but, with all expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid 

 his waistcloth, and took from it two snake-stones, each 

 of the size of a small almond, intensely black and highly 



Chersydrus granulatus, Mer 

 Cerberus cinereus, Daud.; Tropido- 



pliis schistosus, Daitd. ; Tropidonotus 



o 3 



quincunciatus, Schleg. ; T, stolatus, 

 Linn ; T. chrysargus, Boie. 



