ELAPIM. 
7 
Tlie Cobras are the favourites of the snake-catchers, and it 
is astonishing with what ease and freedom they are seized and 
handled by these men even when in possession of their fangs. 
The snake-catchers render them temporarily harmless by cutting 
out the poison fangs, but these are quickly reproduced, unless, as 
most generally happens, with the fang all the reserve fangs and 
germs are removed, in which case the snake is harmless for life. 
Their graceful movements in the erect attitude they assume 
with the hood distended as they follow the movements of the 
snake-charmer’s hands, make them an object of wonder as well 
as fear to all, and the superstitions of the natives about them 
are endless. The muntra or spell is far more potent in their 
idea than any drug, and to such they generally trust when 
bitten. How frequently these fail the records of any Civil 
station in India will prove, and it is to be feared that the 
more material remedies of the physician are scarcely more 
potent for good. 
The snake-catchers in Bengal describe a great variety of 
Cobras. The following list was furnished by a very intelligent 
Mahommedan, who has had much experience, and who, though 
not a snake-catcher originally by profession, has been one for 
several years, and is exceedingly expert in catching and hand¬ 
ling these reptiles. The first great distinction made by these 
jjeople, is between the Cobras with spectacles on the hood, or 
“ Gokurrahs,” and those with one ocellus or other mark on the 
hood, named “ Keautiahs.” They maintain that these are dis¬ 
tinct species, and that they vary considerably not only in 
appearance, but in habits and properties. Some Gokurrahs, 
however, have no mark at all on the hood. 
The Gokurrah has the following varieties :— 
1, Kala—black ; 2, Koyah—black and white; 3, Gomunah— 
wheat coloured ; 4, Puddah—yellow coloured ; 5, Dudiali— 
whitish coloured; 0, Tentuliah—tamarind-seed coloured; 7, 
Kurrees—earthy coloured; 8, Tameshur—coppery coloured; 
9, Puddun nag—golden coloured. 
The 2nd, 3rd, and 7th are the most common varieties about 
Calcutta. 
The Keautiah has the following:— 
1, ICala—black ; 2, Tentuliah—tamarind-seed coloured; 3, 
Ivurrees—earthy coloured ; 4, Sonera—gold coloured; 5, 
Dudiah—whitish coloured ; 6, Bans-buniah—mottled white 
and black; 7, Giribungha—brownish coloured; 8, Koyah— 
black and white coloured; 9, Sankha-mookhi—like the Sankni 
or Bungarus fasciatus —black and yellow. The Cobra is called 
in many parts of Hindostan “ Kala samp,” “ Nag samp.” 
1st, 2nd, and 6th are most common about Calcutta, and no 
doubt in different parts of Bengal many other varieties are de¬ 
scribed, and different names are given to those above-mentioned, 
for the natives are fond of refining on points of this kind. 
I append a note, kindly furnished by Mr. Westmacott of the 
Civil Service, of the names of certain varieties described in 
Puruliali, and no doubt many others might be collected, the 
nomenclature being different in different parts of the country. 
“ Notes on Varieties of Cobras, taken at Puruliah, 
Maunbhoom , 1866. 
“ Aim Gairman .—Average length 51J inches. Top of head 
purple brown, shading into bright orange in the lower half of 
the hood. Back two shades of vinaceous brown in faint stripes. 
Spectacles, white bordered, dark brown. Throat band and 
spectacles underneath ashy brown. Belly pinky white. 
“ Manilag. —Average length 36J inches. Hot very common. 
A remarkably slender neck and broad jaw. Top of head light 
brown, shading into yellow in the hood, and back and belly 
yellowish-white. 
“ (Memo.—I cannot recollect whether this was a spectacled 
Gahman.) 
“ Bichd Jarnrd Gahman. —Average 47 inches. Above ruddy 
brown and yellow. Hood reddish-brown. Spectacles yellow, 
bordered ruddy brown. 
“ Kalvy .—Average length 51 inches. The common black 
Cobra, whole body black. Bing on hood, two throat bands, 
and a collar below the hood ranging in individuals from a 
creamy white to a dirty grey. 
“ Kant a Kdris Gahman. —Average length 48 inches, a light 
made snake. Above vinaceous brown, with yellow tinge in the 
hood. Spectacles red. Throat bands purple brown. 
“ Budliya Gahman. —Average length 44 inches. Top of head 
vinaceous brown, darker on the hood and lighter along the back. 
Below ashy white. Spectacles white, with a dark brown well- 
defined border. 
“ Bdrula .—A beautiful snake of which I never procured but 
one specimen, which I failed in preserving. Length 41 inches. 
All above a light shade of purple brown. No spectacles. Hood 
bright red. 
“ Sana Gahman. —The common yellow Cobra, largest variety 
of all. 
“ Charara Gahman. —A large yellow Cobra. I have not noted 
the differences between these two varieties. 
“ Basta Karicha Gahman. —Average length 50 inches. Avery 
dark vinaceous brown, white spectacles, bordered light red.”' 
The chief difference however insisted on, is that between the 
Gokurrah and the Keautiah, and these they regard as distinct 
from each other as is a Sankni ( Bungarus fasciatus ) from a Krait 
(Bungaris cceruleus). The Gokurrah, they say, is essentially 
a snake of the town or city. The Keautiah is of the fields 
and jungle. The Gokurrah is slower to kill, as its poison is 
thicker though most deadly. The Keautiah’s poison is thinner, 
and takes effect sooner, though it is not more fatal than that 
of the Gokurrah. 
Both, they say, incubate, and the snake-man informs me 
that over and over again he has dug them out of holes sitting 
on their eggs. 
The Gokurrah takes to the water reluctantly; the Keautiah 
freely, and will remain for a considerable period under water. 
The hood of the Keautiah is smaller relatively than that of 
the Gokurrah, and the body is more attenuated; it is more 
slender and active than the Gokurrah. 
The varieties of both eat about every sixth day ; they deposit 
their eggs once in the year, and that in the rainy season. 
The Keautiah is often found during the rainy season in the 
huts of the villages, where it has been driven to take shelter by 
inundation. It is as unusual to find a Keautiah, though, in the 
ruins or debris of an old building, as it is to find a Gokurrah in 
the open country. The snake-catchers here say that they 
believe that whereas the Gokurrah is found all over Hindostan, 
the Keautiah is, if not confined to Bengal, rare in the N.W., 
and other parts of India. This, however, is by no means certain, 
and requires confirmation. 
Some of the snake-catchers have a curious notion concerning 
the sex of the Cobra. They say that the hooded snakes are 
all females, and poisonous; and that the males are all hoodless 
and innocent. The male, in fact, of the Ophiophagus or 
Sunkerchor, as well as of the No)a, Gokurrah, or Keautiah, is 
the l)h a mi n or Btyas mucosus. They assert that there can be 
no doubt of this, and that they have irrefragable evidence of 
it, and that the Dhamin is proof also against the Cobra’s poison 
if bitten. 
It is needless to say, notwithstanding all this, that the story 
is a fable. The Btyas is an innocent snake belonging to a diffe¬ 
rent family, and succumbs rapidly to the poison when bitten 
by a Cobra, as I have proved over and over again by experiment. 
The Cobra is an object of superstitious veneration and awe 
to the Hindoos, in whose mythological histories it takes a pro¬ 
minent place. 
In a religion that deprecates the wrath of a cruel and 
