The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1890-09-13
THE SAVAGES OF INDIA.

: Go where you will in India, you Will
! find danger lurking about your hammock
! or DIGGING your footsteps. You are not
much safer in a large city than in the
country. | was stabbed by would be
| robber almost i'll the heart of Bombay,
and poisonous spider bit me in one of
the parks Of Calcutta and caused me a
months visit to the hospital. Before the
British advent India must have been what
might be termed a paradisc-hcll 1t
ssarmcd with Thugs, dangerous fanatics,
and real lunatics, and no spot was safe
| from savage beasts and dangerous rep
tiles. Forty years of progress and civil
ization, with the expenditure of millions
upon millions of dollars in the shape of
rewards have only made certain neigh
borhoodS comparatively safe. The Thug
! travels no more in bands. and the dan
gcrous fanatic is confined in asylums. but
! the tiger, the hyCna, the serpent, the bear.
the crocodile, tarantuli, and score of
other dangers menace human life every
hour in the day, and will continue to do
SO for centuries to come.
4 friend of mine had summer resi-
dCnce about nine miles from Lucknow.
and | accepted his invitation TO spend a
few weeks with him. He had about 800
acres Of land, Il large part Of which was
forest and tAickct. with a creek running
across a portion Of the estate. The idea
IN India is to keep cool Therefore.
every house is built with this idea, being
provided with a, many windows as posi-
al a. l.,
vcrandaS. had never seen cobra. en-
cept in geological gardens, when | went
out there, but was iated to have an adj
venture almost u, soon rs | arrived. Nv
bedroom was al Il corner of the second
story of the bungalow. and contained
three windows. These were screened
with wire and the sashes taken out. A
hammock was Sung to hooks in the cell
ing, and the room was fairly comfortable
even on Il very hot night.
On the third morning. just at daybrcak.
was aroused from sleep by a noise on
the veranda which ran along under nv
bedroom windows. Ny hammock was
within two feet of one of the windows.
and of course the wire cloth admitted
every sound from the outside As the
grounds were guarded by two chowka-
dars, or watchmen, | had no fear of
thieves, and therefore had no arms with
in reach. lay facing the window, with
my face not over thirty inches from the
screen, and was wondering what had
caused the noise, when a big cobra sud-
denly lifted his head against the outside
OF the wire, and his eyes looked into
mine. For half a minute it seemed as if
my heart did not beat at all. Had the
window been unguarded could not have
raised finger to ward off the attack.
The serpent Missed at me and moved its
hidcous head all over the screen. looking
for some break in its surface. 1t bulged
in as 1t pressed on it. and, knowing how
slOvcnly work is done by Indian servants.
/ expected it to give way ut any eastant.
After couple of minutes the snake went
to the second window. and then to the
third, searching every square inch IN
hopes to find a way into the room.
After he left the window directly in
front of me I might have dropped out of
the h,mmock and got nv revolver from
the bureau, but 1t occurred to me that if
provoked the cobra he would be pretty
sure to make more vigorous attack. |
therefore lay perfectly quiet. closed nv
eyes so that | could just peep at min. and
after going over all the windows a second
and third time | heard him crawling
around the veranda. then dropped out,
opened the door and called to my friend,
and he seized a dOuble-barrelled shotgun
and passed through the halls until he
found the serpent On The other side Of tic
house. He had given up seeking an en-
trance by the windows and was mounting
TO the roof when a charge of buckshot
fired at close range through the screen
cut him almost in two. No one was at
all excited; the incident seemed to have
no more weight than the visit of bat.
\ week later two of the servants ac-
companied me on a hunt around the
ncighborhood after birds. Neither was
armed. and both were barefooted, bare
legged and barearmed. In the marshy
ground along the creek shot several
birds of the snipe species, and we were
about to cross it when one of the natives,
who was in the lead and following path,
halted, turned back. and quietly said:
1--WE had better go another way,
sahib."
"But why?"
"Because the crocodile might do US
HARM