290 A Sportswoman in India 



the last two-thirds, and holding itself ready to strike 

 forwards or sideways. 



Cobras are most active at night, though sometimes 

 found on the move during the day ; as a rule, however, 

 they are curled up under logs of wood, in holes in 

 walls and ruins, etc. They lay from eighteen to 

 twenty-five eggs, and leave them to hatch in the 

 sun ; they are much like a pigeon's egg. 



Snakes are so awe-striking, creeping, sudden, and 

 dreadful, that the Egyptians, Hindus, Mexicans, 

 Japanese, and Chinese, may be pardoned for including 

 them among other terrifying phenomena as objects 

 of worship. There is hardly an Egyptian sculpture 

 to be found without a serpent. Now, in India, only 

 low-caste Hindus will kill snakes a striking example 

 of a superstitious religion baffling the march of 

 civilisation. The Indian Government has offered a 

 small reward for the head of each poisonous snake, 

 and large numbers of cobras have been killed ; but 

 by natives in general they are regarded with super- 

 stitious reverence as a divinity, powerful to injure, 

 and therefore to be propitiated. Often when found in 

 their dwellings this snake is allowed to remain, and 

 is fed and protected a dreadful joy ! Perhaps an 

 inmate is bitten and dies ; then, in some cases, 

 the snake will be most tenderly caught, deported 

 to some field, and there released and allowed to 

 depart in peace. 



The horrors of death by snake-bite are a dark page 

 in Hindu history. It has been well said : " Under any 



