THE FIRST VISIT 
121 
some sort of time to the music ; and that, under these 
conditions, these venomous serpents may be handled 
with impunity. The last claim of the snake-charmer 
is perhaps over- bold. The snakes appear generally 
to have their fangs drawn. But in any case, opinion 
agrees that the sound of the pipes does attract and 
interest the cobra. Wild cobras are also induced 
by the pipe-player to come out from the holes in 
old wells or ruins in which they have taken up their 
residence, the snake being noosed when its body 
is sufficiently clear of the hole to enable it to be 
jerked away by the snake-charmer’s partner. 
The behaviour of the cobras at the Zoo more 
than justified the Indian stories. We selected for 
our serenade a large yellow Indian cobra, which 
was lying coiled up asleep on the gravel at the bottom 
of its cage. At the first note of the violin, the 
snake instantly raised its head, and fixed its bright 
yellow eye with a set gaze on the little door at the 
back. The music then gradually became louder, 
and the snake raised itself in the traditional attitude 
on its tail, and spread its hood, slowly oscillating from 
one side to the other as the violin played waltz-time. 
There was a most strangely “ interested ” look in 
the cobra’s eye and attitude at this time, and the 
slightest change in the volume or character of the 
music was met by an instantaneous change in the 
movements or poise of the snake. At the tremolo, 
it puffed its body out. A rattlesnake in the next 
cage was also listening intently at the same time, 
