SNAKES. 



401 



bites of snakes, to persons who submit to their 

 charms and ceremonies. One of the modes 

 which is adopted for this purpose, is that of 

 allowing a tame snake to crawl over the head, 

 face, and shoulders of the person who is to be 

 curado de cobras, cured of snakes, as they term 

 it. The owner of the snake repeats a number 

 of words during the operation, of which the 

 meaning, if they contain any, is only known 

 to the initiated. The rattle-snake is said to be, 

 above all other species, the most susceptible of 

 attention to the tunes of the Mandingueiros. 

 The above accounts I should not have related 

 upon the authority of one or two persons. I 

 have heard them repeated by several individuals, 

 and even some men of education have spoken of 

 the reputed efficacy of the tame snakes of the 

 Mandingueiros, as if they were somewhat stag- 

 gered in their disbelief of it ; the reputation of 

 the contas verdes is firmly established in the faith 

 of those persons of the lower ranks who have 

 heard of them. These men certainly do play 

 strange tricks very dexterously. 



I had not been so much inconvenienced by 

 snakes as I had imagined I should j I had seen 

 several different kinds in going through the 

 woods, and particularly in that which leads from 

 Jaguaribe to Paulistas. The path through it is 

 not much frequented, and therefore the snakes 

 have become bolder, crossing the road, or run- 



VOL. I. D D 



