272 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



some fourteen snakes in the bungalow in three 

 months, all of them poisonous. 



I thought perhaps the snake-charmer had heard 

 of this plague of snakes, and wished to take ad- 

 vantage of it for his own purposes. No, I did 

 not want a krait from the bungalow, but would 

 he bring a snake of a different kind from the bed 

 of zinnias in front of the bungalow ? Yes, he was 

 quite prepared to bring a snake from anywhere, 

 even out of the floor of the verandah. Fearing a 

 trick, I made him divest himself of as much 

 clothing as possible, and with only his calabash 

 snake-charming pipes to his mouth he approached 

 the zinnias in a cautious manner, myself and 

 my servants watching his every movement closely. 

 He kept blowing vigorously, and circled round the 

 bed of zinnias once or twice, and then with a leap 

 he was into the flower-bed, and hauled forth a 

 large snake about six feet long which struggled 

 violently to get away. But he held it firmly 

 by the middle and brought it to the verandah, 

 when there was a stampede among the lookers-on, 

 myself among the number. We made him put 

 away his capture in one of his snake baskets 

 before we again approached. 



Suspecting that he had put one of his tame 

 snakes in the flower-bed beforehand, in case I 

 should ask him to catch a snake, I now determined 

 to watch him more closely and to give him no 

 chance of preparation. I said, " I will give you 

 five rupees if you will take a cobra out of there " 

 pointing to a spot in the cement floor about four 



