A CHAT WITH A SNAKE-CHARMER. 271 



poison to the baghmarees (tiger killers) and kobirajs 

 (native physicians). 



' Will the Sahib now see the snakes dance, 

 since he has talked his stomach full, or will I 

 catch the snakes that are in the Sahib's bunga- 

 low ? " 



I was residing in a thatched bungalow that had 

 been uninhabited for years, and the old straw in 

 the roof seemed to be a breeding place for snakes. 

 I was seated in the verandah one evening just 

 after a shower of rain, reading the newspaper, 

 when something dropped on to my lap. To my 

 horror I saw it was a small snake of the viper or 

 house krait kind. In a moment I was up, tossing 

 the snake on the floor, and crushed it under foot. 

 I resumed my reading, but in about a quarter of 

 an hour I heard a flop on the floor just behind my 

 chair, and on looking round saw this was another 

 snake of the same size and kind as that I had just 

 killed. This I despatched with a stick, and, feeling 

 that I could no longer enjoy my reading when 

 there was a chance of a deadly serpent dropping 

 on to me, I went into the bedroom, the roof of 

 which had a ceiling of cloth. I had been in the 

 bedroom about an hour when I noticed a snake, 

 similar in all respects to the other two, creeping 

 in at the door. It was now patent that a brood 

 of these creatures must have been hatched some- 

 where in the roof, and were now on the move. 

 A careful search was made, and the doors secured 

 for the night. In the morning my servant killed a 

 fourth snake in the verandah. In all we killed 



