NOTES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE BELIEF IN THE BIS-COBRA. 159 
quantity of luscious fruit, birds and wild game; there is also a large 
number of serpents, which the people call Cobras-de-Capello, and 
which we would call in Latin Regulus serpens. [He meant most 
probably the king cobra, Ophiophagus elaps, a specimen of which 
we lately had in the cage in the other room. | 
“On account of these, God created in that island the cobra tree, and 
ifs use in cobra bites was discovered, because there are in this island 
some bichos (animals) resembling the ferrets, which are called quit 
(others call them quirpele), and which very often fight with these 
serpents, If the bicho knows that it is gomg to fight with a ser- 
pent, or ifit is afraid of it, it goes and bites a piece of the root of 
the plant which is above ground, and chews it, then it moistens its 
hands with the juice of the plant and applies it to the head, and to 
those parts which it knows the cobra will bite in its spring. It 
fights with the cobra, biting it and scratching it until it kills it; if 
it does not kill the cobra, or if it finds it stronger than itself, then 
the bicho called quil or quirpele goes to the root, and applies its juice 
again and repeats the fight with the cobra, and thus kills it and con- 
quers. By these means the Sinhalese came to know that this tree 
and its root were of use in cobra bites; and the Portuguese believed 
in the virtue of this plant, both by what the country people told 
them, and by what they found out by their own experience, and 
made use of the plant against the poison. They also saw with their 
own eyes, that the story of the fight of the bicho with the cobra was 
only too true, and in order that you may be more certain of this if 
you are not tired, I shall relate to youathing which a Franciscan 
friar, worthy of belief and a virtuous man, saw at Negapatam, a con- 
tinent near that island of Ceylon.” On his friend requesting him 
to relate the story, he thus continued: ‘ Many Portuguese men have 
thése bichos domesticated and tamed in their houses for killing rats 
and for fighting with cobras de capello which the joguees carry and 
by means of which they beg alms. These joguees are Gentoos, who 
go about begging, besmearing their, bodies with ashes. They are 
venerated by the Gentoos, and also by Mussulmans; they wander 
about many countries, and know a great many medicines and appli- 
cations, some of which are true, others are false. Many of these 
joguees play the trick of passa-passa. [This is a trick, which we 
see nowadays displayed by the jugglers with 3 small cups and 4 or 5 
balls, a sleight-of-hand trick.] They carry with them those cobras 
of which I have spoken before, and after having drugged them they 
oo 
, 22 
