CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 243 



wards found, and they were watched from the 

 time they came within a mile of the Bungalow, 

 and were never lost sight of for a moment, 

 until they had finished their work. They 

 brought with them a bag containing two cobras 

 caught elsewhere ; this bag was tightly fastened 

 and watched by some of our own servants. 

 The charmers' dress was so scanty that it 

 would have been impossible for them to conceal 

 about their persons the large snakes they after- 

 wards caught. The men were very unkempt 

 looking Tamils — said to belong, as do the 

 other snake-charmers, to a tribe of Indian 

 gipsies, who inherit this extraordinary power. 



The business arrangement being completed, 

 the elder man stepped forward, accompanied 

 by his assistant, and followed by Rob and my- 

 self and four Bungalow servants to the piece of 

 waste land covered with grass and cheddy, 

 where the cobra had been seen. Arrived at 

 the spot, the leader danced forward with a 

 light springy step — best described by the old- 

 fashioned phrase "on the light fantastic toe " — 

 a step one might imagine elves and fairies 

 tripping — so light were his movements that 

 scarce a blade of grass bent beneath his airy 

 tread ; meanwhile, he played little trilling 

 tunes on a peculiarly sweet reed pipe — the music 

 being supposed to attract the snake. We 

 were all perfectly silent, and Rob and I were 



