The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-07-19
Oriental Snake Charmers.

The Oriental has an inexhaustible
appetite for entertainment, and pro-
vided it al be e for nothing, and
sitting, he will squat all day before q
puppet-show. That the exhibition in
question is a stale one matters nothing,
and the same performer is therefore
certain of q welcome as often as he
chooses to come. This partially ex-
plains the extraordinary popularity OF
the SNAKE charmer's entertainment. for
though judged on its own merits. it
has little in it either to arrest attention
or to evoke admiration, the tubri-wal-
lah's performance at all times an in
terested audience; for, of all the many
castles or tribes which pretend to power
over the serpent world, the -Sanyis, or
tubri-wallahs, constitute the chief In
dian snake charming guild. He is, as
a rule, a Withholding creature-the
snake charmer-with his yellow cloths
all luttering about him, and his hair
arranged in a strange confusion of coils
and wisps. under and among rags of the
same color-the professional hue as
he struts into a village, piping on a reed
stuck into a gourd, while his assistant,
a small, unkempt morsel of humanity.
labors in his wake, with a box of mys-
teries and basketful Of wonders.
Arrived at the we'll, the couple seat
themselves, and the villagers collect to
see the show. But first the performer
has to insure some payments meal
and a nights LODGING. at least-and this
arranged sati >factorily, the proceedings
begin. The same stupid old toothless
cobra is hustled out of it's basket, picked
up and propped a hundred times, as if
it was a dangerous thing, and then, with
a boisterous ostentation Of pluck and
dexterity, finally seized by his neck,
half throttled and thrust back into his
bag. This wonderful feat. enacted over
and over again with precisely the same
business" and pantomime, constitutes
the first part of the entertainment, and
then the wonder worker proceeds to
"charm." The old cobra, sick to death
Of what it has come to consider ill-timed
foolery, is once more jerked out from
the bag and while the magician plays
on his execrable pipe the poor, battered
reptile lifts a foot of its length off the
ground, and, distending it's hood, sways |
gracefully to and fro in time with the
music. The master now requires no
stick to keep his pupil at work. for it il
evident that the cobra enjoys the me-
lody, and that its motions are volun.
tarily and naturally sympathetic. But,
except as an illustration of the power
of music over the dreadful thing, the
second part Of the entertainment is as
dull as the first.
There can be no doubt, however, that
the terrific power given by nature to
SHAKES invests them, even for
the most intelligt mt, with extraordinary
interest; and any performance that re-
the handling of them must have
a corresponding excitement for others
besides native villagers. In his fearless
manipulation of the deadliest species,
the tubri-wallah has a certain claim to
respect-the same claim as nave all OK
hibitors who, for the entertainment of
heir audience trife with sudden death.
Yet. as regards the supernatural power
profess to have over the creatures
which they torment and play with,
here is hardly another imposture-even
the East, the home of impostures-so
nadequately supported by performance.
The parade Of fangless worms is absurd
andin the never-failing crop Of
to be gathered by the pipe
from among the furniture Of q
DOM or the shrubs in a garden, there
5 only food for laughter. Pill Robin
on.