244 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



just beginning to vote the whole thing humbug 

 when behold a movement and a rustle in the 

 long grass — with a sharp exclamation the snake- 

 charmer made a dart forward, and drew forth 

 a large cobra, holding it by the neck. I am 

 quite certain it was all bona-fide, for our men 

 never took their eyes off the man and his 

 assistant, and even accompanied the latter 

 when he took the cobra to place it in the bag 

 with the others. 



The same performance was repeated three 

 times more, in different places round the 

 bungalow — with the result that another cobra 

 and two tic polongas (also a dangerous snake) 

 were caught. During the capture of the last 

 a most exciting incident happened. The 

 assistant, who we were afterwards told was 

 rather new to the work, in catching the snake 

 took hold of it in the wrong place, and it bit 

 him on the finger. His terror and pain were 

 great, and I was much frightened myself, for I 

 knew the bite of a tic polonga was supposed to 

 mean death in half an hour. The older man 

 at once made the wound bleed freely, and then 

 applied two snake-stones over the bite, twisting 

 a piece of string tightly round the finger below 

 the place bitten. A snake-stone is a small 

 piece of animal charcoal, polished until it looks 

 like a dark green pebble ; whether it is rubbed 

 with an antidote or otherwise treated, I cannot 



