Evening star., 1901-02-09

| t"o LII 1t WAS q terrible tH1nR TO 90,
| but Sundoo had taken gin. or arrack,
| or something from the black bottle. and
| with drunken miscalculaton thought the
| Memsahib would be pleased with the ex-
him that he had failed in his efforts to
| amlse; so he went back, cheaply enough.
| ana put the king-cobras in the box scold-
ing them for having frightened his mis-
| treSs.
1t is not written in any book what MN
ishment Sundoo got for that when the
sahib came home; but Sundoo knows. He
! Will never forget
| After that the hamadryas were sent I'D to
! my bungalow at the Borongos 1 did not
! Know that their sole article of diet was
| otner snakes, and tried them with rats.
| none of these. '
one day dissipated young rocksnake
! ABOUT four feet long, staggered into the
bungalow Now, the hamadryas had always
| appeared as though they were spoilinp for
| a nght SO l transferred the Iarrikin tn
their box. His advent started civil war:
| the TWO cobras rolled up their sleeves and
Went at 1t; while the new conner covered
! m corner, with his head hidden under
| the folds of his body 'oi
| was terrible battle. They grabbed
| each other by the neck with their fangs
ana shrasS coiied their bodies together: they
| thfeshed up and down the big box until
one was beaten. The defeated cobra SUNK
into a corner, coiled himself up and strove
! TO hide his head under the coils, as the
over oU9r snake hiaa nad ,l done The victor stood
| slightest movement on his part Then.
when thoroughly convinced that all the
| nght mad been knocked out of his mate,
| the conqueror pulled the intruder from
| the other corner by his head and swallow
| ed him. 1t took about six minutes for him
| to accomplish this feat
| All the bones In snakes head are loose,
| and they can even shove one maxjljarv or
| side OF the jaw, forward, independent of
! the other, and the cobra showed this snake
| straight down his throat by means of these
| nexloie teeth That solved the food aues-
| tlon After that when snakes strolIed info
the bungalow they wound up in the hama
| dryas box. There was always battle and
| always feast afterward
They We're very pugnacious, those two
and sometimes fought each other when
| there was really no purse in sight When
| caught them at this 1 used to pull the
slide door in the top of the box and whip
| them with small cane
| Every morning the servants soused the
| box with water to cleanse it, One day
| while 1t was being washed out. l heard a
great commotion, and cries of "The big
| snake Is out!' The servants all fled except
] a na-Burmo lad named Joe" He told
me the cobra had gone into the provision
ROOM l rgged up a short bamboo snare
| and went shikar for the naRa
| round him among some coaconuts on the
floor. When 1 went in he raised his body
about two feet and hissed loudly. 1 tap
ped him on the nose with the bamboo,
and, remembering the whippings 1 had
given him in the box. he dropped and slid-
ed in and out among the cocoanuts But
| he was too clever to stick his head in my
., bamboo moose; ne went under it and over
1t, but never through it. Once twice he
raised up threateningly, but tap from the
bamboo brought him down again.
At last, just as he had evaded care
fully planned trap and was gliding by
impatiently forgot all caution, and. pos
sessed of sudden impulse, darted out my
hand, and grabbed him by the neck. My
hold was SO close to his head that there
| was no chance of his striking me while
l held on l could feel the pulling back of
his muscles. and gripped him with much
| strength.
| AS I emerged from the store room even
Joe took to his heels.
The problem of how l was to get rid OF
his snakeship bothered me considerably as
l trailed him toward the box. at ARM s
| length, to prevent his reaching my body.
At the box I pulled the upper slide. put
his head at the opening, and, feeling his
| muscles set in that direction, released my
hold and stepped back quickly. He glided
quietly in. 1 closed the lid and took a big
lungful of air. 1t is not pleasant thing
to capture cobra with the bare hand.
Standing behind my chair at tiffin, Joe
afraid of snake?"
NO" I replied. scornfully; mo snake
hurt me-" But then. you see Joe had also
| taken to the jungle and had not seen my
face when l was loaded up with the beastiy
! thing.
Cooke was man of much guileless faith
and once. when was away. snake charm
| er came along and persuaded him to loan
him the hamadryas for a few days. He
| would break them In and bring them back.
Perhaps he did break them in--we never
knew.
The hamadryas is wonderfully like a
bulldog. He Is pugnacious in the extreme
always ready to fight. He is the most ter
| rible snake among all the ophidia He is
big and strong and quick, and his venom is
as fatal as that of the cobra di capsllo.
But with all this he seems to have the same
tolerant good nature toward those he feels
have a right over him that the bulldog
possesses. The snake charmer finds HIM
docile. Here is an authentic incident:
u A friend Of mine living in Kyouk Phyou
had a little boy about six years old. who
used to play beneath the bungalow. He
often chattered about his playmate, the
| snake, but no attention was paid to this.
> One day the father saw the boy sQuatted
|. on the sand under the bungalow. throwing
pebbles and little stics.s at huge hama