110 S ETTA. 43 
lender heaven is better furnished with Gfrainc, chap. 
I 
flesh, fish, sugar, fruits, roots," together with all ^ 
other necessaries and luxuries of life. 
Durinj^- our former visit to Rosetta, we nesf- Exhibition 
lected to notice the particular day of the '' year rsyiu, or 
on which a most singular exhibition of the Ser- Eaters. 
pent-eaters, or Psylli, as mentioned by Hero- 
dotus^ and many antient authors ^ took place. 
A tumultuous throng, passing beneath the win- 
dows of our house, attracted our attention 
towards the quay: here we saw a concourse of 
people following men apparently frantic, who, 
with every appearance of convulsive agony, 
were brandishing live serpents, and then tearing 
them with their teeth ; snatching them from 
each other's mouths, with loud cries and dis- 
torted features, and afterwards falling into the 
arms of the spectators, as if swooning; the 
women all the while rending the air with their 
(5) Denon says, this exhibition takes place during; the annual pro- 
cession of the Feast of Ibrahim, at Rosetta. He regretted not having 
been there at the time. See Denon's Travels, Eng. Edit. Vol. I. 
p. 123. Lond. 1803. 
(6) Herodot. lib.iv. cap. 173. 
(7) Strahon. Geog. lib. xvii. iMcan. ix. vv. 894, 937. Pausan. 
lib. ix. c. 14. Dio Cass. lib. li. c. 14. Aul. Cell. lib. xvi. c. 1 1, &c. &c. 
