ELAPINAE 631 



the article applied. The stones adhered tenaciously for three or 

 four minutes, the wounded man's companion in the meanwhile 

 rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulders towards the 

 fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off^ of their own 

 accord ; the suffering of the man appeared to subside ; he twisted 

 his fingers till the joints cracked, and went on his way without 

 concern. Whilst this had been going on, another Indian of the 

 party, who had come up, took from his bag a small piece of 

 white wood, which resembled a root, and passed it gently near 

 the head of the cobra, which the latter immediately inclined 

 close to the ground ; he then lifted the snake without hesitation, 

 and coiled it into a circle at the bottom of his basket. The 

 root by which he professed to be enabled to perform this opera- 

 tion with safety he called the " Naya-thalic kalanga " (the root of 

 the snake-plant), protected by which he professed his ability to 

 approach any reptile with impunity." 



The following narrative, communicated to Sir E. Tennent by 

 ■ H. E. Eeyne, of the Department of Public Works, Colombo, seems 

 to exclude the possibility of deception : — 



"A snake-charmer came to my bungalow in 1854, requesting 

 me to allow him to show me his snakes dancing. As I had 

 frequently seen them, I told him I would give him a rupee if he 

 would accompany me to the jungle and catch a cobra that I 

 knew frequented the place. He was willing, and as I was 

 anxious to test the truth of the charm, I counted his tame 

 snakes, and put a watch over them until I returned with him. 

 Before going I examined the man, and satisfied myself he had 

 no snake about his person. When we arrived at the spot, he 

 played on a small pipe, and after persevering for some time, out 

 came a large cobra from an ant-hill, which I knew it occupied. 

 On seeing the man it tried to escape, but he caught it by the 

 tail and kept swinging it round until we reached the bungalow. 

 He then made it dance, but before long it bit him above the 

 knee. He immediately bandaged the leg above the bite, and 

 applied a snake-stone to the wound to extract the poison. He 

 was in great pain for a few minutes, but after that it gradually 

 went away, the stone falling off just before he was relieved. 

 When he recovered he held a cloth up, which the snake flew at, 

 and caught its fangs in it ; while in that position, the man 

 passed his hand up its back, and having seized it by the throat. 



