The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1875-12-30
ORIENTAL JUCCLERY.

" lie the sacred air.-Gracc Greenwood.
ORIENTAL JUccLERY.
Rindoo coniurers and Snake.charmers As.
tonish the Prince OF Wales.
The special correspondent Of the London
Telegraph with the Prince Of wales writes
from Bombay on Oct. II: An incident of the
.quiet day" was one which is de rigueur with
ali visitors to lndia-namely, an hour or so
with the Hindoo conjurers..aud snake charm
ers, Of whom Bombay possesses many skill
full and extraordinary specimens.
The professions OF juggler and charmer
are very often united in the same person or
company, and no doubt the Prince saw some
thing to astonish him, even after the puz-
cling performance Of the Houdins and Mas
keynes of Europe. There is certainly much
that is highly curious in these snake charm
ers Of the East; nor has any one thorough
ly explained the method of many of their
tricks. The men themselves, always of low
caste. possess an amazing command of the
deadly varieties of reptiles, which they bring
in fat wick. baskets to the door of any one
who will pay q trihe for the exhibition.
They lift. the lid and out glides the dreaded
cobra; but at light pluck Of his tail, or a
light touch with q stick, ..the living DEATH
rears head and neck, puffs out his hood.
and dances time to the sound Of the tumbi.
rude instrument which the scamp wallab'
blows upon. being gourd stuck over with
the req and black seeds Of the a6rus preeat-
orius, and fitted with double reed. The
gray horrid eyes of the serpent fix them
| selves steadfastly upon the mans gourd, or
! turban, and the creature mods backward
| and forward, this way or that, with an ODE
dent movement which follow every bend Of
| the charmer. Armed with the same rude
! musical instrument these men profess, as is
| well known to be able to draw yenomcus
snakes from their holes-but it NAV be
| doubted whether the reptiles care for the
playing, or even hear it, since the auditory
! apparatus of the cobra is imperfectly devel-
oped, and in Burmah as well as Egypt thew
play the same trick with this snake, not on
| ly without any such music, but when the
fangs are not extracted, as they almost al
ways are in the case Of these tanned reptiles.
The ma ority Of cobras carried about by
these men will be fonnd not only fangless,
but the fang gun cautgrixed, 80 that the poi
son teeth cannot grow again. At the same
time instances are common enough, like
those quoted by Forbes in his Oriental
memoirs, to show that many of the charm
ers are not ut all afraid to handle new
caught and deadly snakes, as indeed every
body must confess who has seen them at
work in an Indian garden. Mr.. Nicholson,
in his excellent book on Indian ophiology
has very truly pointed out that even the
deadliest snakes may be taken up with i'm
punity by those whe have nerve and quick
ness Of touch. Unless frightened or hurt,
they are remarkably slow to exercise their
power. They seem to have an instinct
which warns them 10 economist it for real
extremity; for once spent by angry strik-
ing the cobra II seems, must have time Il
collect his lcthsl force-not, however, his
venom, for he elects but drop Of that al
each stroke. MIR. Nicholson says: II have
often envied the nerve of q man here WHO
put his hand into narrow noulhed baskc
containing several fresh cobras and plcl
out the one he wants, without the slightest
objection on the part Of the snake beyond /
furious Kissing" The great thing Is. in fact
not 70 tcrrify the terrible aogo: and half tn.
| mystery Of the business stands explained
when this odd smiability in the deadly cob
r. il understood. and the perfectly collected
l OO8GEvSO
The snake, judiciously handled, seems Il
know that he will not b,
hurt; aud even when he en-
ergss, Individually fresh and fatal, from
his hole, it il lesson which Rarey woulc
have treasured to see how the cbsrmel
presses his head quietly to the ground ant
takes hin up calmly and smilingly, kissing
aud expanded, though one sixteenth Of u
inch Of that curved needle tooth driven il
earnest il death beyond hope. In illus
tration Of this curious good temper in poi
soneus snakes We nay mention that II,
Hindoos have little Or no fear Of them. l
j. considered rather lucky to have Cobr,
in the ehuppur Of the hut, and the chilirel
put ont milk and egg every night 70
their uncle, who keeps down the rats, ami
win live whole season about the plac
without doing any kind Of harm. Religion
and legend combine 70 protect these rep
tiles il India, and, besides al the mytholoe,
which clusters around the great serpent !
vishnu ssd ito antique worship. liindoo
belive that the eobras guard al kind Of nm
deTground treasures. They account 70
shooting stars By saying that when the ser
pent fnds buried gold he curls round il and
gradually changes il into gen, which b.
finally bears away TO the Nagas, the strang
serpent race living in the North. The trac
Of the shooting-s star Is the efulgence Of III
transported jewel The lunestes on the Ca
bras head are, BY these Indian legends
marks o. Krishua's feet. when you find Ii
snakes jewel Jon q q tell its value b. phi
ting it upon the surface Of water and pour
ing gold dust over it, for the gem will no
sink till IN immense amount has been thu
deposited"
i Hthis singular mildness Of disposition il
the dreaded Nag accounts, - We think
does. for good deal Of what seems other
, wise wonderful IN the snake charming yel
terday witnessed b the Prince, many I
the eesjaring tricks performed b =