SNAKE CHARMERS. 69 



fields. It is the serpent chiefly used by snake-charmers, terribly fatal 

 as its bite is known to be. 



The action of the snake-charmer is as follows : he takes in his 

 hand a root, the virtue of which is supposed to preserve him from the 

 venomous effects of the bite of the Cobra. Drawing the reptile from 



Fig. 17.— Cobra di Capella. 



the cage in which he keeps it confined, he irritates it by presenting a 

 stick to it ; the animal immediately erects the fore part of its body, 

 swells its neck, opens its jaws, extends its forked tongue, its eyes glitter, 

 and it begins to hiss. Then a sort of battle commences between 

 the serpent and the charmer ; the latter, striking up a monotonous 

 sort of song, opposes his closed fist to his enemy, sometimes using 

 his right hand and sometimes his left (Plate I.) The animal fixes 

 its eyes upon the fist which threatens it, follows all its movements, 



