274 
EEPTILES. 
[Chap. IX. 
the compliment of a betel-leaf, which it would be rude- 
ness to refuse, facilities are thus afforded for present- 
ing the concealed drug. It is curious that to this 
latent suspicion has been traced the origin of a custom 
universal amongst the natives, of nipping off with the 
thumb nail the thick end of the stem before chewing 
the betel. 
In the preparation of this mysterious compound, the 
unfortunate Kabara-goya is forced to take a painfully 
prominent part. The receipt, as written down by a 
Kandyan, was sent to me from Kornegalle, by Mr. 
Morris, the civil officer of that district ; and in 
dramatic arrangement it far outdoes the cauldron of 
MacbetJCs witches. The ingredients are extracted from 
venomous snakes, the cobra de capello, the Carawilla, 
and the Tic-polonga, by making incisions in the head 
of these reptiles and suspending them over a chattie to 
collect the poison as it flows. To this, arsenic and other 
drugs are added, and the whole is " boiled in a human 
skull, with the aid of the three Kabara-goyas, which are 
tied on three sides of the fire, with their heads directed 
towards it, and tormented by whips to make them hiss, 
so that the fire may blaze. The froth from their lips is 
then added to the boiling mixture, and so soon as 
an oily scum rises to the surface, the habara-tel is 
complete." 
It is obvious that arsenic is the main ingredient in the 
poison, and Mr. Morris reported to me that the mode 
of preparing it, described above, was actually practised 
in his district. This account was transmitted by him 
apropos to the murder of a Mohatal 1 and his wife, 
which had been committed with the habara-tel, and 
1 A native head-man of low rank. 
