Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1895 — THEY CHARM SNAKES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THEY CHARM SNAKES.

Skill Shown by the Men of the latH How Berpenta Are Captured* The dislike and even horror people feel for snakee is almost universal and perhaps to that reason is due the fas-

cination which stories at the snake charmers have for most of us. India and Ceylon especially, just as they are the places where snakes abound, so are they also the lands in which the professional charmer If 6’u.r i»s h es most widely. The snakes most employed by these men are the cobra and the tic polonga indeed the natives say these two are the only snakes which can be charmed. Both of them are deadly serpents, though the cobra Is much the better tempered of the two and will only

strike when provoked; the tic polonga, on the other hand, is most frequently the aggressor. The snake charmer, as a traveler says, generally goes about in company with a juggler. They appear before the house, and after receiving permission to give a performance, bring forth their snakes, usually three, which they carry in baskets. The charmer assumes a peculiar posture, squatting upon the heel of one foot, the other knee doubled up and projecting in front. He sways from side to side keeping time with the monotonous music made by his companion with pipes. After the playing has lasted a few moments the charmer uncovers his baskets and takes out the cobras. At first they seem scarcely to notice the sound of the pipe, but presently they raise themselves a couple of feet from the ground, the rest of the body forming a kind of pedestal, and-s way to and fro with the music. This they keep up

as long as the spectators want to see it and the music continues. After the performance the charmer will show that the snake has fangs aud can kill if a chicken or rabbit bo provided. When first captured the fangs are generally removed, but as they grow’ out in a very short time, the charmers do not often trouble to remove them again. The men are not at all afraid of them as they rely on their music with great confidence to gain control over the reptiles. Every charmer carries with him a snake stone which he believes is sovereign in case of bites. At least it adds immeasurably to the men’s confidence. How the snakes are charmed is inex-

plicable; even the men themselves do not pretend to give any explanation, but attribute their power solely to the music. Women snak» charmers are also met with in India, who go about the streets and willingly give performances for a small sum. Their success is quite often as great as that of the men charmers. It may be interesting to know how snakes are originally captured by the charmers. The man finds a hole where a snake has its home and then, sitting before it, begins to play on the pipes. Soon the snake appears, upon which the man, grasping a long stick he is

armed with, dashes forward, throws it across the reptile, and, standing on it with his foot, seizes the animal’s tail with both ands. Then, suddenly releasing the stick, he slips one hand quickly up to the head of the snake which he grasps securely below the jaws by the thin part of its neck. It Is now powerless, but its frothing and hissing show all it would do were it able.

A HINDOO SNAKE CHARMER.

A BAYADERE SNAKE CHARMER.

WHIP-SNAKE SWALLOWING A CHAMELEON.

ONE METHOD OF CAPTUBING SNAKES.