Year: 1876

In city so famous for jugglers,


snake eharmers, acrobats, and cheCal-


ters d'tnduStrte generally, ladies and


gentlemen who live by their wits, in the


most proper sense of the word, and who


apparently make a very good living, it


was scarcely likely that the Prince of


Wales would be permitted to stay long
without witnessing the feats of skill for


which these wandering Madrasses are


celebrated. Thursday being a compare


lively open day, therefore, the morning


was selected for an al treScO exhibition


OF this kind. The town lost the nOmads,


Government House gardens received


them. Let us look at the saw
age who appears to make the


dried skin of cobra live. 1t is fav-
Nite trick-you may see it done twenty


times day in the streets of Madras.


You may examine the apparatus closely
every time and, watch the operation as


carefully as you please, yet you cannot
detect the mOdus operandi. The per-


former hands you a little fiat wicker


basket, some eight inches in diameter,
and asks you to inspect it, while he folds
the cobra skin, which you have previ-
ously well examined, into a square, ,leav-
ing only the tail unfolded. So soon as
you have given the basket back the Jug
gler places it on the ground, in full
view, and under the lid puts the folded
part of the serpent's skin, the tail being
in your sight all the while.


You may, at this stage, lift the lid
once more to see that nothing but the
serpent skin, is in the basket, after
which you must rest content. A white
cloth is taken by the man and placed
over the basket, after having been well
shaken so that you may be assured moth
ing is in it. A pipe is produced, and
with it horrible noise, similar to that
always made by snake charmerS, and
not unlike the sound a cracked and bad
ly made bagpipe would emit, is made
No one goes near the cloth or basket, 4
except the almost naked man, who can
not hide any five snakes in his sleeves,
for the simple and sufficient reason that
he has neither sleeves nor Jacket, nor
indeed, any other kind of clothing than
Il small waist cloth, which would Ger
tainly bea most inconvenient hiding
place for lively young cobra. The
sheet is lifted, you look at the basket and
see the tail of a living snake being grad
ually drawn into it, and on the lid be-
ing opened a most distinctly energetic
serpent is discovered. No sooner is it
stirred than it rises on its tail, spreads
out its hood, and strikes with its fangs
and tongue at the charmer. No one
would care to examine that basket now,
with a cobra four feet long making
vicious snaps at the juggler. The
charmer takes good care that the snake
comes near you, for with dexterOus
movement he seizes the reptile by the
head, and holding it in one hand comes
to you with the basket in the other,
while you put rupee into the recepta-
Gle, if only to induce him to 90 away.


The snake gone, a stout, strong girl
comes forward, makes deep obeisance,
and then, stepping back, throws a man
weighing fully eleven stone over her
shoulders. Nor does she stop here, for
she seizes her victim once more, places
him crOsswise on her back, and then
tosses him into the air as though he
were made of feathers, and not a broad
shouldered human being. Turning
backward on her feet, she picks up
straws with her eyelids, throws
somersaults, and lifts weights
which would astonish the ordinary
London acrobat. While she is thus
performing, jugglers are changing peb-
bles into birds, birds into eggs, and
eggs into plants; men thread beads
with their tongues, join innumerable
pieces of cotton into one long cord,
keep half score of sharp knives in the
air at once, throw cannon balls with
their toes, and spin tops on the ends Of
twigs. Pandemonium reigns, the clat-
ter is unbearable, and one is compelled,
as was the Prince, to dismiss the tribe
of vagrants without further delay
Cor. London Telegraph.