The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-05-26
Snake Charmers.

Some years ago, when Cairo was the
Cairo of the ARABIAN Nights" and not
the disreputable-looking second-rate
French country town it is now, we in
quired for any possible successor to the
old snake-charmer whom old Anglo-In-
dians may remember to have seen play
ing with his cobras before Shepherds
Hotel (Was he not at the Zoo in the
wonderful year 1851, and did he not
promptly decline, without thanks, our
offer of two or three lively capellos then
in the collection p After some trouble we
lighted on . furtive Arab caitiff, In the
usual long blue shirt, girded about the
waist to form the upper part into
species of spleuchan or sporran. In
this he seems to keep his dlrty pipe. his
packet of frousty tobacco, and whatever
small portable property he had acquired
more or less honestly. With him we
resorted to divers ancient stables and
outbuildings in the suburbs, and con-
jured him to find snake. Placing a
small wooden pipe between his lips he
tootled quantity an old Arab air, now
low, but hardly soft, and now high and
loud. Thus he wandered, tootling and
furtive, and we following and expectant.
At last, arriving at an old half dark,
evil-smelling stable he appeared to get
excited, gave vent to still wilder squeaks
and squeals, circled round and round
under big palm tree beam, and at last,
with an ear-splitting note, he squatted
suddenly down, dashed his hand appar-
emily upward, and clutched big cobra,
which he evidently intended us to believe
had been charmed from above. say
apparently, for am certain that he lost
the brute out of the "bosom" Of his
blouse. Now this was very pretty, but
hardly satisfactory; so, instead OF giving
our charmer "backsheesh (having a
man in authority among us, } we promised
him bastinado if he did not capture
snake in the open. Very limp about
the loins and very yellow did that Arab
caitiff show through his brown skin, but
we were relentless. "Cobro or Toxic !"
and 80 he searched with the greatest
care-not to find what, in fact, he did not
want to find. At last one of us spied the
tail of q good-sized snake protruding
from some unnamable rubbish. "Now,
my friend, catch us that snake, or
He tootled not the "or had taken the
music out of him-and, overcoming with
O visible effort his shuddering horror, he
caught the tail in one hand and rapidly
ran the other up the body till he reached
the neck. Pinning this between his
finger and thumb, he caught up the tail
of his blouse, and forcing the brute to
close his jaws upon it. tore it out rapidly,
again and again, evidently with the in
tention of tearing out the poison fangs,
which he did at last, to certain extent,
TO mis- own satisfaction but he was wary
10 the end, and, instead of putting it
into his pouch with his old friend, he
knotted it up in rag. And SO he went
his way and we went ours, with gentle
feeling that if we had been done We
were to a certain extent aware OF the
fact. BY the way. unless my memory
has utterly given way to my imagination,
distinctly remember seeing In 1851 the
cobras striking and drawing blood from
the arms of the old Arab snake-charmer
and his clever boy. Many wonderful
things he did, such as producing cata-
leptic rigidity in the snake, as easily
removed as produced-things / should
like to see again.-7 The London Field.