Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-06-12
A SNAKE CHARMER,S STORY.

''IhiS," said Mr.. Davis, bringing forward
a dark-skinned, black-eyed woman of grace
full carriage and faultless form, is Nala
Damajante, the Hindoo snake charmer.
lures with her crawling pets in the last half
dozen years to fill volume" and fifteen
minutes conversation fully justified the as
sertion
Miss Damajante, although engaged in the
rather unfeminine occupation of handling
enormous anacondas and twining about her
body the deadly folds of powerful pythons,
is decidedly interesting in appearance and
conversation. While native Of Hindos-
tan, she speaks French fluently, has smat-
tering of Portuguese, and is bravely engaged
in mastering the intricacies of English.
She is of medium height, delicately built,
and shows her eatsern origin in an oval
face, eXquisitely cut features, a pair of
dance of raven black hair, which, when
unconfned, falls below her waist. Her
skin is that peculiarly swarthy hue seen
only among the high caste Hindoos. 1t
is not dark, like that of the octoroon,
nor copper colored, as in the North Amer
lean Indian. 1t is rather a deep, rich
olive, with the faintest suggestion of peach
bloom shining through, which intensities
and comes and goes as the speaker becomes
animated.
The snake-charmer talked modestly, and
with charming absence of any ''airs" that
would lead one to think she thought her.
mortals. II hardly know how to begin,"
said she, in her pretty broken English, "be-
cause, you see, I am more at home with my
snakes than in talking to you gentlemen OF
the newspapers. You want to know why [
fear not these big snakes. l will tell you.
1t is because l love them and they love me; {;
it is-ah no; mistaken there-they do not
always love me. Sometimes shake-what
you say in English you shiver, because the
snake wants to squeeze me too tight.
Then feel afraid? Suppose you live in
powder-mill all your lifetime. You are
not afraid? No. Other people are afraid ?
Yes. Some day the powder mill will burst
and kill everybody. The people who are
afraid are not killed, because they are far
away; you are killed because you are not
afraid and are in the mill. Do you under
stand me?"
AS ifto illustrate what she had said, Miss
Damajante opened a box standing in the
corner Of the tent and took from beneath
the folds of a gaudy blanket huge python,
whose forked tongue was darting in and
out like lightning, and whose eyes were
scintillating like diamonds. Without the
slightest hesitancy she wrapped the enor-
nous reptile around her neck, and there it
writhed like living necklace.
"You see," she said as the snake sudden
ly attempted to encircle her chest, This
is what I have to guard against-at the
same time siezing the monster just back
of the head, causing it to hiss horribly.
"When was in Madrid my largest snake,
weighing 12O pounds, nearly choked me to
death; and it took two strong men to get
him loose. I lost the grip on his neck.
Another time, in London, the same snake
frightened about my chest so powerfully
that it made my nose bleed. In Philadel-
phia, last season, new snake that didn't
know me, got beyond my control, and be-
fore I could seize his neck, had nearly
crushed my arm. 1 was so sorry that the
newspapers told about it; do not want
the people to think that I am afraid. In
one of the Western States-I cannot re-
member the name-I tried to show how l
handled three snakes at once. The small
est one got away from me, and in trying to
catch him let 60 Of the others. The next
moment they were both wrapped around
my body, and Tightening their folds. was
unable to speak and threw myself on my
back to attract attention. Two of the at
tendants rushed forward and rescued me.
I find the greatest danger on very warm
days. The snakes are full of life then, and
want to squeeze tight. On cold, damp,
days they will hardly move.-PhHadelphta
Record.