A CHAT WITH A SNAKE-CHARMER. 269 



believe me ? The Huzoor is right, I am a liar, 

 and the Huzoor is my father and my mother ; 

 but the bandpost has got a sting in its tail, like a 

 scorpion. Am I not a catcher of snakes and 

 should I not know ? 



' Yes, I can cure the bite of all snakes all but 

 the bingraj. It is the smallest of snakes, and yet 

 if it bites, death is almost instantaneous. It is 

 generally found during the hot months in the fine 

 dust of pathways. It lives in the dust, and feeds 

 on insects, ant-lions and such like. See, here it 

 is " and he turned out a tiny snake about six 

 inches long from a purse he had stuck in his 

 waist-cloth. The creature looked somewhat like 

 a dry twig, and was very slow in its movements, 

 and but for the forked tongue which it protruded 

 from its mouth now and again it gave no 

 sign of life. Its flat viper head showed that it 

 belonged to the poisonous family of snakes. I had 

 often heard from the natives of this deadly snake, 

 but this was the first I had ever seen. It is 

 commoner in the Punjab and Rajpootana than 

 in the more wooded districts of India, and is well 

 known for its deadly venom. The natives say 

 that if this snake bites one in the foot, death is 

 instantaneous ; but if it bites one in the chest, 

 a gentle drowsy sensation of sleep overcomes one, 

 and one dies with a pleasant look on the face. 

 Rajpoot women when they wish to commit suicide 

 apply one of these snakes to the bosom and make 

 it bite them there, when they enjoy the most 

 pleasurable sensations and die quietly. There is 



