The St. Johns herald., 1891-04-16
TWO EASTERN SNAKES.
The Cobra Is Cood-Saturcd But the Po- tonga Is a Bad Eeighbo-.

The Cobra Is Cood-S5aturcd But the Po-
 tonga Is a Bad Eeighbo-.
 From ages past, says a writer in Pop ular Science, the susceptibility of snakes to thesiaflucncc of music has been fully recognized, and it would be interesting to lrnow how many varieties aclznow- ledge its power. In Ceylcn tho natives say that only two-and they the two most .venomous, the cobra and the tic polonga-can be charmed. The former, the hooded or spectGcled snake, every one has heard of; the latter is not 50 well known out Of the ieland and is far more deadly and dangerous fee. The natives hold the cobra ia the high est estimation and look upon 1t as the king Of snal1es-tile Tamil name fer it being in fact ''nulla parInbu," or ''gOCd snake,'' and I think it i5 an admitted fact that it will seldom if ever attack any one unprovclzcd. l have myself seen cobrac under many circumstances, and although 1 have conscientiouSly destroyed every orc that I have been able to, have no hesitation in saying that they are net dangerous unless dis turbed. In prCcf cf this l would quote the case of Q pair that occupied a hole in a clu1np of olcanders in a certain garden for several years. No one ever disturbed them and they stunned them selves where they pleased, and the gar dener rather looked upon them Gs an additional attraction to the place. They used to eat squirrels, young birds and any thing else that came in their way, but never attempted to do any harm, and remained unmolcsted as long as l knew the place, and probably raised an inter- esting family meanwhile. Unlike the cobra, the tic polCnga is always ready to attack on the slightest provocation, and as 1t inhabit5 many lCcalities-some being found in shrubs and trees, some in grassy waterways and others in- variably in the vicinity of footpaths- it is more often met with, and is I think, responsible for most that happen from time to time. This difference in the habits of the two snakes is well known to the natives and is the subject of one Of the Singhalese fables, which is as follows:
 One very dry year, when little rain fell, when rivers had dwinGlcd into silver thread, when tanks were baked hard and brown and wells and water courses were dried up, Q prolonga, suffer ing agonies from thirst and faint from the overpoveri1g Lcat, met a cobra looking very lively and refreshed. "Have you found water anywhere?' gasped thc polonga. The other said: ''Ycs." ''Where-oh, where is it? Tell me, implorc you, for l am dying of thirstr' said the prolonga. The cobra replied: ''I can not tell you unless you promise to do no harm tO any living thing that may be beside the water" 'As for that" replied the polonga, 'I would promise any thing SO that might quench this intolcrable thirst" And he gave solemn promise. ''Wcll, thcn,' said the cobra, beyond those bushes is a large earthen pan of water, in which a child is playing. Go and drink from it, but at your peril do not harm the child" So saying they parted. The cobra, after going 9 little way, began to Gistrust the prolOnga, knowing the latter's treacherous disposition and rugged temper, and turned to follow him. He arrived too late. The pro- longa had not only drank of the water, but crept into the pan where the child began to play with him. On this he grew violently angry, bit the child with all his force, so violently, indeed, that the infant died in few minutes. The cobra, in hot and fiery indignation, at- tackled the prolonga and punished him severely, biting off 6 piece of his tail. Hence to this day all Prolongas have blunt tails. Ever since cobras and prolongas have been at deadly feud. They arc the most deadly serpcnts in Ceylon. When people hate one another mortally they are said provcrbially to be like cobra and prolonga.