SERPENTS 
cautioned her not to touch them, and I took each one by a 
pair of tongs and put it back into the box, meanwhile 
telling the woman of the fearful death from which she and 
her family had just escaped. Her intention, by placing 
them before the fire, was to revive them, as the weather 
was extremely cold at the time. To this fact her escape 
was due, as, had they remained a short time exposed to 
the warmth, it would have been next to a miracle to touch 
them without their biting the person who attempted to 
handle them. 
THE SAILOR AND THE COBRA. 
One day a sailor came to the Gardens and asked for me. 
When I went to him he held in his hand a very old and 
ragged rice-bag. He said, “ I’ve got a fine stinging fellow 
here for you.” I asked what he meant, so he opened the 
bag and showed me one of the largest and fiercest-looking 
cobras I had ever seen. I felt somewhat alarmed lest the 
brute should attempt to escape out of the bag, so I advised 
the sailor to remain quiet until I obtained, from an 
adjoining room, a large fish-globe, into which I told him 
to drop the serpent, bag and all. I then well secured the 
top. I asked him how he became possessed of this 
dangerous creature. “ Caught it among some timber,” said 
he, on board a ship at Blackwall, just home from India.” 
And how did you get here with it in that old rag ? ” 
“ Well,” said he, “ I took the train from Blackwall, and 
the omnibus from Fenchurch Street, and he ” (meaning the 
snake) “ was quite still all the way.” “ What do you want 
for it ? ” “ Ten shillings and my expenses,” which I paid. 
He asked me if I would take another if he caught it, as 
he had seen one larger than the one he had brought with 
him. 
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