Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-01-02
SNAKE STORIES.
Even India Has This Variety OF
I Anecdotes.

Anecdotes.
Despite the fact that snakes are so
common in India, Europeans do not
see much Of them unless their duties
cali them out into the wilder districts
Like most wild things they are des-
perately anxious to avoid human be-
ings, and with good reason, since a
white man always kills a snake at
sight. And so, after twenty years
passed in India, an Englishman may
recall the discovery, on two or three
occasions, Of q snake in his house,
into which it had crept for shelter
from the rain; he has, perhaps, a
dozen times come across one coiled
up beside a pathway. and there his
experience of them ends. Yet he
must constantly have been close to
them; a family Of cobras. perhaps,
has inhabited his compound, un-
known to him; and there may have
been snakes In the very thatch of
his bungalow,
The official reports for recent
year gave the number Of deaths
from snake bites throughout India as
$4,000. No doubt in the remoter
districts natives report the death Of
their relatives as having been due to
snake bite In order to avoid the
troublesome inquiries which they de-
test; and all evidence having been
carefully destroyed 1t is impossible
to arrive at the truth. Occasionally,
too reported death from this cause
is in reality murder. But after
making all reductions. the number Of
persons killed every year Is enor-
nous. This is caused partly by the
fanatical dislike which the ordinary
native has for killing or even in
terfering, with any wild creature, and
partly by the common habit Of going
about with feet and legs bare. I
have myself seen a native soldier
walking boldly into a patch Of grass
In my compound to drive out cobra
which he has seen to glide into It.
The fact that his legs were bare to
the knees did not cause him the
slightest hesitation. Fortunately he
did not meet the snake.
It is commonly reported, though
with what truth I do not know that
natives sometimes adopt a particular
ly diabolical and ingenious method
of getting rid of any enemy, in such
wise that the death shall be correctly
attributed to snake bite. A small
cobra, or a kaiait-a snake quite as
venomous- is caught uninjured, and
piece of string is fastened to Its
tail. The string is then run through
the hollow stem Of a bamboo just
large enough to contain the body Of
the snake, and by 1t the creature is
dragged, tail first, inside the cane.
Great care Is taken not to injure the
reptile in any way.
Armed with his abominable wea-
pom, the murderer waits for suit
able opportunity for using it. Moth
ing Is easier than to approach the hut
Of his intended victim when he Is
asleep, and creeping through the
open doorway to bring the end Of
the bamboo in contact with some
part of the body. The snake, enraged
and terrified by the treatment which
1t has received, bites as soon as its
head touches the man. If the victim
is sleeping soundly he Is probably
not even awakened by the slight
puncture of the cobra's needle-like
fangs. He passes insensibly into
death. The next day his body Is
discovered, with all the unmistakable
symptoms of snake poisoning; and
save through an accident, 1t is not
even suspected that a crime has been
committed. The murderer having
liberated the snake and destroyed the
bamboo, is perfectly safe. Even II
suspicion falls upon him, it is i'm
possible to prove his guilt. Snake
stories more or less incredible,
abound. The following which was
told to me on such authority
that I am forced to believe 1t, is a
fair specimen: A cobra was discov-
cred in the compound or garden sur
rounding an officers bungalow, and
the entire male portion Of the house.
hold turned out to destroy 1t. The
place to another, and at last it took
refuge in a narrow culvert. All sorts
of. expedients were tried to drive it
out. Shots were fired through the
pipe, and bundles of burning grass
were thrust into 1t, without effect.
Finally, the culvert was dug up, and
the snake was found and killed.
1t was a large and handsome one,
and hung upon a nail driven into
the wall of the veranda outside the
bungalow. The next morning II e
owner of the house was astonished
by finding on the ground beneath 1t
a second cobra skin!
The natives one and all declared
that the mate Of the dead snake had
come along during the night and shed
its skin there through grief of its
loss. This explanation being con-
sidered incredible, 1t was supposed
that some one had INDUCED in a |
rather pointed practical jokes, though
the circumstances Of the case made
It difficult to see how this could have
been possible. But whatever might
be the true explanation, there were
the two skins.
Another story, which, however, is
not really a snake story at all, relates
that a lady awoke in the morning,
and. looking around the room, was
mortified at seeing a snake coiled upon
the back of a chair. She was newly