34 The Carnivora. 
the ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. Besides, 
were the ichneumon inspired by that courage which would 
result from the consciousness of security, it would be so 
indifferent to the bite of the serpent, that we might conclude 
that both in its approaches and its assault it would be utterly 
careless as to the precise mode of its attack. Such, however, 
is far from being the case; and, next to its audacity, nothing 
is more surprising than the adroitness with which it escapes 
the spring of the snake, under a due sense of danger, and the 
cunning with which it makes its arrangements to leap upon the 
back, and fasten its teeth in the head of the cobra.”—‘ Ceylon,” 
fourth edition, 1860, p. 145 (Longman). 
T have spoken with several who have witnessed these contests, 
and who can be trusted to report what they see, not what 
they imagine, and they unanimously support Tennent’s view 
in every particular. At my request, an Indian friend sacrificed 
two of his cobras for the purpose of making a careful exami- 
nation of the question. He wrote, “The tournament came off 
last week, and I wish you could have been here to see it. I 
prepared the lists by driving a dozen stakes firmly into the 
ground, and surrounding them with canvas, made snake-proof 
by letting the ‘slack at the bottom into a trench a few inches 
deep, and filling in tightly with earth. A few nails driven 
into the posts at intervals made all secure, and we had an 
inclosure 12ft. across, about 5ft. high, and circular, so that 
neither of the champions could be ‘ cornered’ by the other, while 
we could see everything comfortably over the top. I turmed 
one of my cobras in, and the man with the mungoos arrived 
soon afterwards and dropped him into the inclosure. Both 
combatants were in good fettle, and they went at it in an 
instant, the snake for choice leading off. I never saw anything 
like the quickness of both—the repeated dashes of the cobra, 
and the still quicker springs of the mungoos. They were all 
over the inclosure in a moment, and I thought it was any odds 
that the animal must at last get that fatal blow driven home by 
the reptile. Still they kept at it, and we all thought the 
