The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1860-12-06

and began to play-the chief charmer
spinning with great velocity, in kind
OF wild dance round the palm leaf bas.
ket covered with goat skin, in which the
reptiles were kept.
Suddenly, the dancer stopped, and,
punging bis hand iu,o the basket, drew
out of 1t an asp, or busks, which he
whlrled about, twiniag aud uutwining it
until is looked like braid of grcensh
yellow silk. He then wreathed the ser.
! pent round his head, like turban, dan
cling all the time, while the reptile re.
maine where he had placed it, appear
ing to accommodate itself to the move.
ment and will Of the dancer
The asp was then placed upon the
ground. from which it reared itself per-
pendicularly-the position of attack ta-
ken by it when its hauuts arc Invaded
waving its body from right to left, in
time with the music of the flute
Then the dancer, wheeling more and
more rapidly, in diminishing circles.
again plunged his hand into the basket,
and drew from it, successively, four horn
ed vipers, or lcfaars. These reptiles,
liveher and less docile than the asp, keep
themselves coiled up, with their heads
slanting forward, ready to strike, as they
| followed, with cleaning eyes, the mo
tions OF the charmcr, on whom they dar.
ted with open jaws, when he came with.
IN reach, launching their bodies with
wonderful swittness, while the tails ap
! n,,arnH nl e., ~ 4 A.
again winding themselves into coils
The dancer parried, with his abbaye,
these assaults upon his bare legs, the vi
pers appearing to impregnate the gar
ment with their venom. He then seized
one of them behind the head, dancing
round and round, and calling in a
loud voice on his patron saint
Opening the powerful elastic jars of
the reptile with stick, he showed US
his fangs, from which oozed whitish
oily substance. Then he held his arm
near the suake, which struck him immc.
diately, upon which he redoubled his con
tortions, as fin an agony of pain, calling
all the time upon Sidna Aisser, the rep
tile still continuing to strike, until he
withdrew his arm and showed US the
blood trickling from it,
Replacing the viper on the ground
the charmer now applied his lips to the
wound, squeezing it between bis teeth,
and still keeping up his dance, while the
flutes went faster and faster, until at
length he stopped from sheer exhaustion.
As was confident that this man wa.
an srrant juggler, and that the poison had
been extracted from the reptile. l asked
him to let me handle it,
art thou serpent charmer ?" asked
thf ds5wsr tBaass u s,ahHasr tahar Afssff?h
Neither the one nor the other" re.
piled I
Should the serpent strike thee, then
thy hour is come" rejoned he Bring
h'ther hen or some other living animal
aud | will prove the truth of my words"
unfortunately for itself, wretched cat
happened to be at hand 1t was brought
to the charmer who caused the viper to
strike it; immediately after which poor
puss fell into convulsions, which lasted
for few seconds, staggering about for a
moment, and then fell, stiff and dead,
soon after which its lose and eyes as
sumed blush tint
Ineed scarcely add that this expert
ment cured NE of my frantic desire to
play with the horned viper.
Of these facts | speak from ocular ex-
perience; but, although | have investi,
gated the matter closely, | have never
yet met with any person who could pro.
pound satisfactory theory upon the
subject. | have applied to the charmers
themselves, and to the people about them,
Offering money in exchange for their Sc
cret, but invariably witt! the same result.
9 If We die not from the bite of the
serpents,' they would say, with an ap.
pearance Of impertu,babIe faith "i. is
owing to the protection Of Sidnar Aiss-
err
Superstition alone can satisfy the Arab
for THIS curious fact of the snake charm
erS. To me. who am not given to the
supernatural, it seems that these men
must possess knowledge of certain herbs
the juice Of which ncutralizes the effects
of the venom; and that they hold this
remedy in their mouths while sucking
the wound, thus Obtaining results usually
produced by exci>ion and canterization
This suggestion | give for what it is
worth -Lifc IN the Desert