Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-10-21
SNAKE CHARMING.

Some years ago, when Cairo was the
Cairo of the "Arabian Nights, and not
the disreptutable-l looking, second.rate coun-
try town it now is, we inquired if there was
any possible successor to the old snake
charmer whom old Anglo. Indians may re-
member to have seen playing with his
cobras before Shepherds hotel. WAS be
not ct the Zoo in the wonderful year 1851
and did he not properly decline, withou
thanks, our offer of two or three lively
capellos then in our collection p After some
trouble we lighted on furtive Arab cAitiff
in the usual long blue shirt, girdled round
the waist to form the upper partinto aspecies
of sp,euchan or sporran. In this he seemed
to keep his dirty pipe, his packet of TO.
bacco, and whatever portable property he
had acquired more or less honestly. With
him we resorted to divers ancient stables
and ousbuildings in the suburbs and con-
iured him to find a snake. Placing a
email wooden pipe between his lips
he footed quaintly an old Arab
air, now low, now hardly soft, and
now high and loud. Thus he wandered,
footing and furtive, and we followed
excep:ant. At last, arriving at the old,
half dark, evil smelling stable, he appeared
to get excited, gave vent to still wilder
squeaks, circIed round and round aud
round under a big palm tree beam, and at
last, with an ear-spli5ting note, he squa.ted
suddenly dowr, dashing his bands appsr.
emily upward, and clutched a
big cobra which he evidently intended
US to believe had been charmed from
above. l say apparently for am certain he
hoisted the brute out of the bosom of
his blouse. Now this was pretty, but
hardly satisfactory ; so, instead OF giving
our charmer "backst eesh" (tavipg man in
authority among u J, We promised him has,
tinado il he did not capture snake in the
open. Very limp about the loins and very
yellow cid the Arab caitif show through
his brown skin, but we were re-
lentless. cobra or Toko?' and go he
searched with great care-not to find what,
in fact, he did not want to find At last
one of Us spied the tail of a good sized snake
protruding from some unnamabie rubbish.
Now, my friend, catch us that snake,
Or" He footed not-the "or" had
taken the music out of him, and, overcom.
ing with a visible effort his shuddering
horror, he caught The tail in one hand
and rapidly ran the other up the body
till it reached the neck. PinniDg
this between his finger and thumb, he
caught up the tail of his blouse,
aud, forcing the brute to close his
jaws upon it, tore out rapidly again, evil
IDENTIFY with the intention of tearing out
the poison fangs, which he did to g certain
extent to his own satisfaction but he was
wary to the end, and, instead of putting it
into his pouch with his old friend, he
knotted it up in bag. And SO he went
his way, and We went ours, with a
gentle feeling that if We had been
% done" we were to certain extent
not aware of the fact. By the way, unless
my memory has entirely given way to ray
imagination, 1 distinctly remember s.eiag
in 1851 the cobrss striking and dra gIng
blood from the arms of the old Arab sna ke.
charmer and his clever boy. Many W. n.
derful things he did, such as producing
cataleptic rigidisy in the snake, as easily
removed as produced things should like
to see again -[London Field.