100 
CERASTES* 
sound of their rough music. Not only the innox- 
ious species are subjected to their will, but even the 
deadly cobra de capello * is obliged to bend, and 
show itself to please its master. It has been long 
supposed that these people have some physical 
means of securing themselves against the bite of 
venomous serpents ; and the following account, if 
We may rely upon it, seems to confirm this opi- 
nion. 
“ I can myself avouch,” says Mr. Bruce, “ that 
all the black people in the kingdom of Sennaar, 
whether Funge or Nuba, are perfectly armed 
against the bite of either scorpion or viper. They 
take the cerastes in their hands at all times, put 
them in their bosoms, and throw them at one 
another as children do apples or balls, without 
having irritated them by this usage so much as to 
bite. The Arabs have not this secret naturally ; 
but from their infancy they acquire an exemption 
from the mortal consequences attending the bite of 
these animals, by chewing a certain root, and wash- 
ing themselves with an infusion of certain plants in 
water. One day, while I was sitting with the 
brother of Shekh Adelan, prime minister of Sen- 
naar, a slave of his brought a cerastes, which he 
had just taken out of a hole, and was using with 
every sort of familiarity. I told him my suspicion 
that the teeth had been drawn ; but he assured me 
they were not, as did his master Kitton, who took 
* See the account of that serpent. 
