New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-07-22
CROPPING FOR SNAKES IN A WELL

CROPPING FOR SNAKES IN A WELL
Presently he came to an old dry well, one of
/ those wide stone masonry structures so COM
monty found around Delhi which were con-
structed generations ago in the time of the
Mogul emperors He looked into it for few
moments, and then asked OF the jail officials
! to take off his puggree" or turban, and let him
/ down into the well. 1t was only about ten or
twelve feet deep. At the bottom Kulian re-
/ manned for a few minutes, examining the earth
most carefully.
He peeped into every crevice and corner, and
pushed his stick into many holes. Eventually
! he howled, Send me down ghara, some one,
will you?'
! The ghara was let down attached to the end
! OF d urban Then began most exciting spec
! tacle. kullan was to be seen at the bottom of
! the well, inserting his hook gently into hole
! between two stones and then jerking it out
again. At last, with one of the outward jerks,
/ he managed to bring out about four or five
inches 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 Kulian could seize it The contest
. commenced again, and eventually Kullan man
aged to get a grip on the serpents tail, and in
another instant was dangling a large kerait in
! his left hand. Every time the creature tried to
raise it's head to get at the fingers that gripped
its tail and suspended it the gave it
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 anxious TO get out of sight and harms way,
began to coil itself up inside the vessel, Kullan
meantime slowly lowering the tail till the reptile
mad vanished A bit of rag was then tied over
! the mouth of the vessel
! hulldn could no doubt nave found many
more snakes that morning in the Jail garden,
! but time would not permit
Let US now return to the laboratory and wit
ness the process of venom extraction from the
hundred odd venomous snakes the three snake
catchers had brought.
Kullan had taken four large cobras from their
receptacles 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
J its head TO its utmost height, spread out its
hood and, facing the intrepid snake catcher, be
/ gan to hiss furOusly its beady eyes flashing
and its forked tongue darting necessarily in
and out of its mouth.
PETTING COBRAs
The creatures the defensive, but not
one of them attempted to strike at the master
who sat so serenely in front of them so long as
| he did nothing to annoy them. He talked to
them if they were his dearest friends. After
! a time other OF them would lower its
wrggle away. Whereupon Kullan would give
/ it a smart little rap the tail with his stick
and bring it instantly to attention again
Whether this man possessed any special magic
spell over these cobraS. or whether the de-
scription given below of how he could handle
and play with them simply due his
method, l cannot say He himself repudated
| the idea OF magic, and asserted positively that
| any who had the necessary nerve and
| dexterity could do exactly the same. He used
reed instruments music of any kind to
Dropitiate the reptiles He would simply solfat
| on his launches in front of them, and after they
! had been kissing and swaying their uplifted
! heads backward and forward for a few min
slowly made them descend till they rested on
! the snakes heads He then stroked them gently
on the back of their necks speaking all the
/ time in the most endearing of HnduStani terms.
The serpentS appeared spellbound. They made
no effort to resent the liberty, but remained
quite still with heads uplifted. and seemed to
rather enjoy it. Presently his hands would de-
Scend down the neckS, about three inches below
/ the heads his fingers would close loosely round
| the necks, and he would lift them off the ground
and place them on his shoulders The Iooseness
Of the grip appeared TO be the main secret The
! snakes, being in 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 harm was TO
/ be done them, and they made further effort
to resent the handling He would pick them
gently off and place them On the other.
and, in fact, stroke them and pet them as if
! they had been a pair of harmless worms.
! On one occasion he made the onlookers' blood
! curde 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. it is needless to say violently
resented by the snake but it was poWeress for
harm and could only show its indignation by
desperate wriggling of its body, while the man
maintained a firm grip of it's head between his
teeth, at the same time letting both hands drop
TO his side After a few seconds he seized the
snake firmly by the neck and released its head
! from between his teeth.
He never had the smallest difficulty or hesita-
ton in Selling any cobra by the tail.
EXTRACTING THE VENOM.
49,. .horo,,ol,I. -o,,cad sc