The Florence daily tribune. (Florence, Colo.) 1898-1903, 1898-10-03
THE REAL SNAKE cHARMER.
How He Differs From the Ordinary Ma
nipuiesor of Harmless Reptiles.


How He Differs From the Ordinary Ma
nipu,ator of Harmless Reptiles.
The famous snake oharmors of In
dia are divided into two classes
viz, the genuine and the imitation,
or the real eharmer and the tricky
but clover manipulation OF snakes.
The former actually charms the
venomous reptiles iato temporary
doeility and harnlessness, while the
latter merely handles those which
have been rendered harmless by the
extraction of their fangs.
The real charmer seldom performs
in large town, because snakes are
not as numerous there as in the
smaller Villages and The juugles.
One of this class carries his worldly
possessions in two bags hung on
bamboo pole which rests ON one of
his shoulders. His most important
and highly priced belongings, his
pipe, rude musical instrument
made of a gourd and n section of
bamboo, he carries in his hand.
If you are living in the mofussil,
or rural district, and desire 10 ascer-
tain whether there are snakes har-
bored within the precincts of your
garden, pay the charmer a rupee or
two and lie is at your service. Care
fully depositing his bags ON the
ground, he sits down beside them,
crosslegged, closes his eyes and be-
gins to play a mournful melody
upon his pipe.
To the occidental ear there is moth
ing impressive or thrilling in the
performance, and you fail to detect
even a faint resemblance to har-
monious arrangement of tones such
as you have heard in your native
land. 1t appears more like an ir-
regular series of melancholy means,
soulful wailings and dismal shrieks,
not unlike the productions of be-
ginner on the clarinet. You listen
with some degree of interest at first,
for the music, if it may be so called,
is decidedly novel; then you feel
rather bored and are gradually
drifting toward the conviction either
that you are being bunkoed out of
your rupee or that there are no
snakes on the premises, when sud
denly you notice a movement in the
grass some distance from the player
and the head of a snake appears
above the blades, swaying to and
fro at least foot or two from the
ground.
If it is a cobra, the hood is expand
ed and the eyes flash and sparkle like
electric lights. Presently, perhaps,
another snake will appear in diff
ferent part of the garden, followed
by another. and, if your place is
well supplied with thereptiles, there
may be a dozen of them moving to-
ward the player in spasmodic leaps,
while swaying their heads and at
least onefourth of their bodies clear
of the ground and keeping perfect
time with the music. They seem to
SiNo thNiiAEotNSH tF Sit'Itiy ~ ZIG
fascination of the weird sounds and
to lose all consciousness of every
thing else.
As long as the man plays, they re
main within two or three feet of
is;5,s2:21 ,s.lls.,a aSSs,sz-ss4a
apparently unconscious of their
presence. And still, he seems to
WELD a mysterious power over
them, holding them at a safe dis
lance from him, while they never
cease to oscillate as if in supreme
ecstasy. Suddenly he removes the
pipe from his lips and opens his eyes
Slowly the snakes sink flat upon the
ground, and then glide swiftly away
through the grass, disappearing be-
fore you have sufficiently recovered
from your astonishment TO begin TO
think of killing them. The oharmer
never kills them his religion for
bids it.-Cincinnati Commercial
Tribune.