160 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCTRTY. 
pall out their teeth and fangs in order to prevent them from doing 
harm. With this and with a little familiarity, they (the joguees ) 
put them round their arms and necks, and try to make us_ believe 
that they are under an enchantment. But I believe it is all a lie. 
I will relate to you the following case :— 
“* A Portuguese gentleman at Negapatam’ (and thisis the story of 
the Franciscan friar) ‘called a joguee who carried cobras with him, 
and told him to let his cobra fight with his (the gentleman’s) bicho, 
but the joguee having pulled out the fangs of the cobra, wherein 
consisted all its strength, refused at first, but the gentleman gave 
him one cruzado (about two shillings and fourpence) and he con- 
sented. The bicho warned for the fight walked at first under the 
benches and chairs to see if it could smell the root of the cobra tree, 
but seeing that it could not get it, it daubed itself with its own 
saliva and came out to fight the cobra, which on seeing it made-a 
dart at its head and slightly bit it twice or thrice, the bicho also bit 
the cobra as many times. Then both somewhat wounded, separated, 
but the cobra yct the worst of the fight. The joguee having got the 
price of the fight and also the cobra remaining alive (which recovered 
afterwards) came back with another cobra, which had its fangs, and 
challenged the gentleman for another fight between the animals, on 
condition that he should pay him more money because his first cobra 
was nearly dying and he had brought another. The gentleman only 
offered him as much as he had paid before. The joguee was quite 
glad to accept it, because this time his cobra was better armed. The 
gentleman prepared his bicho for the fight, he caressed it first, then 
brought out for it some roots of the tree which the bicho chewed for 
- some time, and taking some of the juice in its hands applied it to 
its head, loins and belly, and also to its former wounds. The dicho 
being thus prepared, the joguee brought his serpent, which raising 
half its body from the ground at once darted forward, but the bicho 
avoided its bite by jumping on one side. They went on in this 
manner for some time, the bicho hitting the cobra, and the cobra 
hitting the bicho also; at length the bicho jumped on the cobra’s 
head or a little behind it, and bit, squeezed, and scratched 
it go, that when he found that the cobra was completely 
exhausted, he killed it. The cobra however was disabled by the 
very first bite of the bicho, for the breath of the bicho is poison to 
the cobra, Thus was the joguee’s cobra killed, and he left the 
place broken-hearted.’ ” 
