The evening times., 1900-07-28


OF TINS viper so well begins by dangling
a dirty rag in his let hand, Just out of
STRIKING distance, and so engrOssing the
creatures attention in that direction. Il
his right hand he holds the hooked stick,
out this time with the hook toward him.
he waits patiently till the viper exposes
mis- mead for moment from among its
COILS, and then in an instant he pins the
mead 10 the ground with the butt end Of
MS stick. firmly. but not sufficiently rough
~ 10 in1ure the reptile Then in another
nan second he seiZes IL by the neck be
tween his thumb and index finger He
then catches hold Of it's tail with the other
| hand, and while an assistant holds open
tne mouth OF the canvas sack he jerks the
viper to the bottom
Having proved, by finding two more dur
ing the next ten minutes in the same lime
orchard. that to him the finding Of vipers
was an easy matter, Kullan proceeded to
search for some other snakes.
Cropping in a Dark Place.
presently he came to an old dry we'll,
one of those wide stone masonry struct-
ures SO commonly found around Delhi,
which were constructed generations ago,
in the time of the MoguI empero-s. He
rocked into il for a few moments, and
then asked one OF the jaiI officials 20 take
down into the well II was only about
ten or twelve feet deep At the bottom
kullan remained for a few minutes, exam
ming the earth most carefully.
He peeped into every crevice and corner
and pushed his stick into many roles
Eventually he howled Send me down a
ghara, some one, will you?"
The ghara was let down attached 10 the
end OF turban. Then began most ex-
citing spectacle kullan was 10 BE seen
al the bottom Of the we'll inse- ng his
hook gently into a hole between two
stones and then jerking it out again. At
last, with one OF the outward Jerks. he
managed 10 bring out about four or FIVE
lnenes OF the tail end OF a dark colored
snake. which he grasped at with his hand
The snake was, however. too quick for
him, and withdrew itself before Kullan
could seize IL. The contest commenced
again, and eventually Kullan managed TO
get a grip on the serpent's tail, and in an
other instant was dangling a large kerait
in his left hand. Every time the creature
tried 10 raise its head 10 get at the I'm
gers that gripped it's tail and suspended
IL the man gave il a Jerk and knocked the
head down again He then lowered the
head gently down into the mouth Of the
ghara. and the snake being only too anx-
ious 10 get out OF sight and harms way,
began to coil itself up inside the vessel,
until the reptile had vanished. 4 bit OF
rag was then tied over the mouth OF the
vessel
Kullan could no doubt have found many
more snakes that morning in the jail gar
den, but time would not permit
Let US new return 10 the laboratory and
witness the process Of venom extraction
from the hundred odd venomOus snakes
the three snake-cs- hers had brought.
Kullan had taken four large cobras from
their recepcaeles by gently placing his
hook round the thickest part OF their
bodies and drawing them slowly out he
threw them on the ground in front OF him.
Each snake Immediately raised its head 10
its utmos, height. spread out its hood and
facing the intrepid snakecatcher. began 70
hiss furiousiy. its beady eyes flashing and
its forked tongue dartiug necessarily in and
out OF its mouth
Charming Cobra.
The creatures were on the defensive. but
not one of them attempted to strike at the
master who sat so sernely in front Of them
so long as he did nothing to annoy them.
He talked to them as IL they were his
dearest friends After time one or other
OF them would lower its head. collapse its
hood and begin to try and wriggle away
Whereupon Kullan would give Il a smart
little rap on the tail with his stick and
bring II instantly to attention again.
Whether this man possessed any special
magic spell over these cobFas, or whether
the description given below Of how he
could handle and play with them was sim
ply due TO his method, cannot say He
himself repudiated the idea Of magic. and
asserted positively that anyone who had
the necessary nerve and dexterity could
DO exactly the same. He used No reed in
strument OF music Of any kind to proprti-
ate the reptiles He would simply squat
on his launches in front OF them. and aft
er they had been Missing and swaying
their uplifted heads backward and forward
for few minutes he raised his hands above
their heads and slowly made them descend
3 till they rested On tha snakes heads He
then strOlIed them gently on the back Of
their necks, speaking a. the time in the
most endearing Of Hiniustani terms The
serpents appeared sCellDOund. They made
no effort TO resent the liber Y, but remained
quite still with heads upifted, and seem
ed 20 rather enjoy It. Presently his hands
would descend down the necks. about three
inches below the heaTs. his fingers would
close loosely round tie necks. and be would
lift them of the ground and place them on
his shoulders The lOoseneSs OF the grip
appeared TO be the main secret. The
snakes. being in no way hurt would then
slowly crawl through his fingers and wind
themselves round his neck. his shoulders.
, and his arms. They appeared to realize
that no harm was to be done them. and
they made no further effort to resent the
handling He would pick them gently of
one arm and place them on the other, and
| in fact. stroke them and pet them as il
they had been a pair of harmless worms.
On one occasion he made the onlooke g.
blood curdle by taking up a large black
cobra by the neck and placing its head
toward his open mouth. The inclination
of these snakes is to crawl quietly out OF
sight into The first hole they can find. and
so the reptile began TO crawl into his
mouth. He waited his opportunity and
then suddenly closed his teeth firmly on
the serpent's head. This, il is needless TO
say, was violently resented by the snake.
I but il was powerless for harm, and could
only show its indignation by desperate
wriggling Of its body, while the man main
tanned firm grip of its head between his
teeth, at the same time letting both hards
drop to his side. After a few seconds he
seized the sanke firmly by the neck, and
released its head from between his testh,
He never had the smallest difficulty or
hesitation in seiZing any cobra by the tail
Extracting the Venom.
A cobra when thoroughly reused to an
ger is by no means the same gentle Great
ure as those 1 have just described. which
allowed the man to handle them with i'm
punity. He is now a most formidable beast
to approach, striking out desperately at
every moving thing within and even out of
his reach But even in this condition. Kul-
ian had no difficulty in seizing the largest
Of cobres- He would hold up and shake a
rag in his left hand On this the infuriatei
reptile would rivet his gaze With his