The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-27
FILIPINO SNAKE CHARMfRS.
The SpaHiards Say That They Have
the Power to MeSmeriIe.

FIilnlpo Indians are passionately fond
o. music. Some play the guitar or
mancoiin, others tie metal wind in
slruments, many the flute. the violin
and the anti anti, the siAon. the Ian
Sueta, the rave but the flute or otto
OF wood and pito Of cane are the favor
les and with the raves are the charac-
teristic instruments of the InGians who
1--we in the native settlements and form
/ tribes IN the mountains
The 7ito of cane is Of especial inter-
est, because it is the instrument by
means OF which lovers are able 10 COM
! mun,cdte with t&ch othor. 1t consists
or small piece of cane with a tongue
CIT some I'VE Ccntimeters from the
izIIot forming the closed end. This
tongue IS seraped until IL is as thin
as thick paper Three holes two cen
tlmeters apart are cut III the cane.
The indian places the reed in his
mouth so that his lips cover the reed
tongue, and with his fingers covers or
uncoVeIs the holes as he plays. With
this pito Of cane he plays waltzes.
Tolkas. schottisehes ana everything
tEat ne hears after hearing an air
once. Upon this Instrument he also
makes Lis prayers and supplicatlons.
The pito of cane serves the Indian
TOR all FESTIVALS and Merry makingS,
and particularly for serenading his
sweetheart in the hours OF the night:
/ above all TO announce to her from afar
! ms approach. Between them there is a
melody agreed upOn beforehand and
code for cOnversiHg together.
| The Indian plays his. melody from
| afar, and At the End sounds a certain
/ note or series of notes. asking her if
! she can come to him At the rendez-
Fous agreed upon between them. She
replies with the notes previously ar
| ranged for the answering call The
meaning of the mites is known 10 them
clone.
When the parents OF an Indian
maiden object to her Ike ping company
| with her lover. and DO rct allow her to
20 out, the two use pitCS for convers-
/ lng together. Beforehand the Indian
has taught his sweetheart a species of
| q alogue or vocabulary, for conversing
/ without anybody being able to under
| stand them. TRANQUILITY. therefore in
/ tEeir c5bins, the two draw their pitos
and begin TO question and reply to each
| ether as much as thev wish That is
/ to say, with the pito the Indian forms
| an alphabet and syllaSleg.
! The Indians IN general are charmers
! OF reptiles, in particular the Igorrote
| Youth % the uiansaII, WHO live in set
| Elements or tribes and inhabit the
| fountains. These Indians are almost
{ all semi-savage. and when they are
| maddened the only thing which viii
/ calm them is music. 1t is a custom of
! theirs TO spend hours in tall trees, il
/ may be, playing SOME melancholy re-
! Iraln with the wooden flute, or playing
| Warlike aire with the pito of cane.
| When in their wanderings they meet
6 snake they immediately raise the pito
| Ct cane to the mouth and play a par
| ticular air to cali to their help the
| spirits Asnany Alfalfa and Anani. They
believe that on playing the favorite air
OF the spirits these come running to
| item end with their touch make rep
! tiles iusensibie.
Without fear\the Indians approach
\ the snake and play on the wooden flute
certain airs which seem to affect the
snake. Then with a small switch IN
| me right hand they give the snake a
! Eight blow on the head without wound
ing il until it becomes lethargic. In
stdntly they seize it and place it in a
J leather bag.
Having so captured a snake they
carry it TO their hut placing it imme-
diately in a depository to domesticate
II and at the sound of music to make
Il dance before the public and in their
| family diversions The receptacle or
! depository is an earthen jar a meter
high with circumference of $50 me-
! ters. This jas has two handles. To
| one of them the cover is fastened with
thongs of leather. The cover is crossed
with thick fibers of the palma bravo
wild paiIn) in the manner of a net
The cover is of circular form and
made likewise Of the wild palm: this
| wood is so hard that a lion cannot
] L nit 4, f-
ole like that of the jar into which II
fastens.
The reptiles eat once a month and
their mean consists of wild pigeons,
niagpies. parrots and little monkeys
At times, when the Indian charmer is
| SICK, or hunting on the mountains, or
away warning with ANOTHER hostile
tribe, and has forgotten to give the
snakes their meals at the proper time,
they become so lethargic that they ap-
pear to be dead
! When the Indian arrives with the
provisions, and sees them In such a
state, he sprinkles them with nipa
Palm alcohol, draws his pito of cane
and plays it, changing the airs, until
the reptiles revive. Sometimes it hap
PENS that he finds remaining only one
O. two of the largest and most fero-
cloUs; the others have disappeared
eaten by the big ones. This however,
rarely happens.
The Indian snake Charmers are be-
lieved by the Spanish to possess a GER
tain power of mesmerizing all kinds
of reptiles, and TO be able to do with
them whatever they wish. There has
/ never been. it is asserted, a case in
I which a chaTmer has been bitten by
the snakes which he carried with him
for his exhibition. or by those he fire.
quenuy encounters on the mountains
and on the banks Of the streams and
rivers.
! The Indian earns money by the ex-
hibitiOn of his snakes He has them
| trained to dance to the sound Of the
music of his pito. When he wishes to
exhibit them he takes his pito and to
the music the reptiles dance in the
earthen jar; thrusting their heads and
half of their bodies through the holes
Of the cover.
When the reptiles are exhibited with
in house, admittance is gained by
each visitor paying whatever he wishes
TO present. Visitors are advised in
advance that the doors will be closed
until the conclusion of the dance.
A circle is formed i'm the middle of
a large room capable Of containing
comfortably 100 persons. In the cen
ter Is placed the jar containing the
reptiles.
When everything is ready. the
charmer takes his pitO and begins to
play very slow melody. which ne
calls a 'desaletagadora" or awakener.
The snakes begin to move themselves
and raise their heads.
Immediately the charmer plays an
andante more quickly and the reptiles
become more animated and begin the
dance which is known as the Ans
Sayao.