Port Royal standard and commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1876-01-06
90 MM ISpIn MAGIC. i

Curious Instance of Snake Char ming.
~kss A Very curious case was lately report
ved ia an american newspaper of snake
sschaning boy, / will now give you an
! account of sliake-charming operation
in the East Indies, which came under
my own observation, in which case a
nan charmed the snakes; the number of
''snakesaffected upon which occasion, as
= ven as the death dealing powers of the
reptiles, make the case notable one.
= Some time after a servant of mine had
died Of the bite of cobra, being IN the
neighborhood of Attock, on the banks
of the Indus, when visiting some Hin
doc temples in the vicinity met wor-
shipper named Mean Raj, who applied
,sfrequent,yz to the officiating fakir, or
priea, 6rsdeliverance from plague Of
cobra snakes which. infested q plot, Of
SgroRal sbslpHging - him 70 such o de-
&Rne HAL Ks servants were unwilling to
labor upon it, especially as most of them
went barefoot. The church failing to
help him. his friends recommended him
to apply to the. charmers.v This he did
by seefng t6s services of one Mungul
Deem, who avowed his readiness to coax
the snakes o4tsof tlfeif holes to their
. desth as effeetually as st: Patrick is said
tohave done ,ih Ireland,
=. I may here mention chat snake charm
ers ara magicians in the East, and a
'eetaxstsesstef or class by themselves.
TIE word 'scaste" throughout India de-
notes The psrtseular. calling to which an
individual belongs. Eastern charmers
or magicians are found frequently to be
of tue Brahminical or priest caste, which
isfhe highest ,orae ia consequence of
its eoncection with he 'Hndoo religion
aud its mssteriesy The order OF Brah-
MINIS Meara atrins Gser the shoulder, to
distinguish them This string, which is
of peonlHf construction and difficult of
imitation, b conferred and placed on the
body in infancy, with much religious
ceremony attending the operation. Such
snake eharmers as belong to this caste
wearths sacred string. Eastern charm
ers are nomadic ia .ther habits, wander
ing over India In every direction. Like
the priests, they. lead lives of :celibacy,
or at least pretend to DO so. The Indian
magicians appear to be thriving class
of men, content If they can only show
their fellow mdtals their. mystical pow
ers and gain a living. TOnsthe occasion
of which I'writs-a sort of grand stand,
composed'Q of wooden steps, arranged one
above tho other, had been erected, from
which to view the operation OF charming
the snakes. :. -
Mungul Deem, the charmer, was
fat, middle-ageds man, with intellectual
countensnee and.sparkling eye. He wore
q mustache, but no beard, which seems
to be peculiarly yafected by the. Mahome-
tans. Mungul had the hight, copper
colored complexion which obtains among
the natives of the, Upper PunRub, In
strong contrast to the coal. black hue OF
the natives of Lower Bengal. His dress
was freely decorated with sll sorts OF
signs including snakes of every form
and size, was of white:linen and scrupu-
lousy well adjusted, from the becoming
turban downwards. W r.7s ~
- Everything being pronounced ready
by Mungul, he first lighted o small fire,
ilto which he threw something which
flashed up with blue blaze, and then
the FIRE was. allowed auickly;to die out.
He then went fearlesdy all over the
snake infested ground, distributing as
he walked some sort of POWDER the ma
ture of which was known only to hlm:
self :after which he seated himself on
terra frma, singing the. inc yitable
"tum-tum " around his neck, and hold
ing an instrument in his hand which
emitted a sound when played upon very
mucb like that of a bag-pipe. The spec
tators, who were natives, e3cept myself
and two gentlemen named Harrison and
Bal, who were travelling in India io1
their pleasure, showed their appreciation
of the music by occasional howls OF de
light. Mungul consecrated his instrgg
ments, throwing up his arms, and the1
began his music with a wild discordan
air. Not snake had been seen as yet
but as soon as what may call the con
cert had fairly opened, snakes swarmet
from all sides with heads erect ard hood
expanded. After while q Large con
course Of snakes. some hundreds in nun