The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-07-26

called the dharmiR, said 10 Be cr0ss
between the cobra And some other
species. II Is said to refrain from biting;
but when pursued. strikes with its tail,
which, according to the natives, can in
iict painful and even dangerous
wounds; and the belief obtains that
this snake is quite inocuous on sundays
and Thursdays! 1t is considered un-
lucky to speak Of any venomous snake
by its proper name nicknames or
roundabout expressions being consid-
cred preferable; Just as the correct word
for cholera morbus is avoided. as in the
highest degree dangerous to employ,
and likely to bring the disease. Many
natives who walk about after dusk re-
peatedly strike the ground before them
with their lattice q bamboo statf), and
go at q slowpace; and the dak-runners,
or rnral p0stmen, who run stages of
five or six miles carrying the mail-bags,
invariably carry number of loose iron
rings on their shoulder-pole, to make a
iingling sound as they trot along.
There are several versions of the object
Of this; the primary object being no
doubt to scare away snakes and other
noxious animals; but the noise also
gives warning to the next stage runner
Of the approach OF the mail-bags.
Strangesas ID may seem, there are PEG.
ple-few though they may be-who
never saw snake in India. l was
lately solemnly assured by friend
who had spent three years in the Mofus-
gil, frequently camping out, that he
had never once seen one dead or alive.
At one bungalow where resided a few
years-a bungalow admirably situated,
and we'll raised from the ground II
killed, or saw killed. during thrse
months of one monsoon rains, between
eighty and ninety poisonous snakes on
the premises, of which more than one
third were either in the rooms or the
veranda- My successor, who lived
there about twelve months, encountered.
no more than four snakesl He was sue
ceeded by man who, in June, July
and August, killed over zone hundred.
One bungalow in station may be IN
tested with them, while another, a
couple of hundred yards of, is com.
pletely free. Places the most likely
looking for the hab tation of snakes, on
account Of Jungle and dense vegetation
close by, are often the most free Of
them. And soiist ottenis with those pests
the mosquitoes. VastnTMbers Of fowls
are destroyed by snakes, and the cook
room is pace which seemingly has
great attractions. The largest cobras
ever saw have killed sometimes shot
lin the tGwGrchik lana (cook-house).
/ have spoken of the fondness Of
snakes for frogs and toads. There
is well-known cry of very plain
tive and peculiar description often
heard, especially during the rains,
uttered by these un ortunate frogs
when being set at by a snake. beng
bolta hal, kodarwand!" "a frog Is
shouting) was the information fire.
quently impaired to me by my lit
tie servant-boy Nubbee, as | lay be-
meath the punka enjoying my post
prandial cigar, ever ready, as he
knew me to be, to kill the snake and
save the frog Out we would So ly,
he holding my kerosene table lamp,
and / armed with a polo stick; and
we rarely tailed to find amongst the
bushes dacent to the bungalow the
object of our search-a kraft or a
7hOmGn (cobra) besetting q terrified
rog, that had not shrieked in vain,
Ind which, by a timely rescue, lived
% return to tho bosom of its family
a -. $ r.