snake charming and snake charmer.
on the subject of snake charming, a wide diversity of opinion seems to exist. while it is vouched for by many apparently creditable and honest citizens, that the exhibitions of the east indian snake charmers show that they really do possess some mysterious power over the reptiles to which they owe their safety in freely handling the most venomous serpents, on the other hand, persons apparently qualified to express an opinion, declare the whole system of snake charming to be but some clever impositions. there is said to exist a species of snake of large size, and so closely resembling the deadly cobra, as to be easily mistaken for it by ordinary observers, but which is perfectly harmless. may not this be used in some of these performances? again, snakes of really poisonous species appear, on good authority, in many instances, to have been tampered with by the charmers by having their fangs removed, or by being made to strike them into cloth or other substances until the present supply of poison was exhausted. where this has been done, and new fangs have grown, or more poison secreted, numerous charmers have lost their lives by their ignorance or carelessness of the fact. an officer in a french regiment stationed in africa, relates that what were represented by an arab juggler to be scorpions, were actually nothing but harmless lizards, and that the man’s feat of thrusting his naked hand into the bag containing them was no feat at all. upon the officer offering to do the same act, the juggler slunk away.
music is often referred to as a probable secret of snake charming. this may be, in a small measure, the case, as snakes appear to like music. a story is told by the gipps land (australia) guardian, which may be entirely true, or, probably, founded on truth:
“we have all heard of the charms of music,” says the paper, “and many have, no doubt, been treated to stories which described its influence when brought to bear upon snakes; but we are informed of an occurrence during the past season which surpasses all that we heard before. when mr. s—— was one day coming from traralgon towards rosedale, he was indulging himself in whistling a melodious air, while his horse was taking it easy at a walk. at no great distance in front he espied a good sized snake, with its head elevated about twelve inches from the ground, as if listening to the tune of the equestrian. 206upon seeing it mr. s—— was about to dismount to arm himself with a weapon to dispatch it, but presently he bethought himself that it might be under the influence of his sweet notes, and accordingly resolved to discover. he, keeping in his saddle, continued as before, and when he neared the admiring reptile it set its sinuous form in motion, and moved along rapidly till it got a considerable way ahead of the pipes. then it halted, and again raised the region of its intellect to sip in the strains of the harmony in its rear. after a repetition of this scene for several times mr. s—— determined on pushing his experiment further, and for this purpose set out in a slow trot, when, to his astonishment, the snake went double quick, still keeping ahead of the music, and regulating its pace by mr. s——’s pace, ‘pulled up’ whenever he pulled up. at length mr. s—— ceased his melody, and the snake, finding that the strain was ended, wound its way off into the forest. we may as well add that the tune which is reported to have thus charmed was no other than ‘patrick’s day,’ whistled by a son of the sod.”
snake charmer performing.
207the fact that many spectators of the exhibitions of the snake charmer failed to detect any deception does not prove that there was no deception. while the detection of imposition by others, in similar performances, would seem to argue the probable existence of it in the other cases. even poisonous snakes can, by kindness and ample food, undoubtedly be rendered sufficiently tame to permit handling, and where charmers pretend to operate on strange serpents, it is suspected that the reptiles used are really tame ones, surreptitiously introduced beforehand into the places whence the charmer proposes to bring them forth by his charms. one case is recorded where a strange snake happened to be in the place so chosen; he destroyed the tame snake, and, on emerging, being mistaken by the charmer for his own snake, struck his fangs into the man when he attempted his usual jugglery with it, causing his speedy death.
that dexterity and coolness enable men who, in eastern countries, make a profession of capturing dangerous snakes, which often intrude into dwellings, to capture these reptiles seems unquestionable; but the familiarities described by travelers, we believe to be attempted only with snakes which the performer has tamed and trained, or else rendered harmless, for the purpose. we will, however, give the opponents of this theory a chance to be heard, and so present a splendid account, which is given by an english officer in india, of the capture, by one of their professional snake catchers, of a cobra which had found its way into the room of a sick fellow-officer, and was discovered by the narrator on paying his friend a visit. after the alarm had been given, the usual confusion outside the door, and the various expedients proposed for expelling the unwelcome “squatter,” the narrative goes on to describe the arrival and doings of the snake catcher:
“he came, a tall, muscular native, a slip of cloth around the waist, his hair long and matted, except on the centre of his head, which was shaved close in a circle, and a turban covering it, bearing over his shoulders two baskets and a musical instrument made out of a gourd, with a single bamboo pipe coming from its upper end, and two smaller ones from its lower, like a flute, whilst the breath is blown through the upper and single one. before he was allowed to enter the room he was searched, and his baskets and instruments taken from him. nothing could have been concealed, for his clothing was reduced to its minimum, and he carried a short iron rod.
208“he was shown a hole in which we supposed the snake to be, for the reptile had disappeared. he lay down on the floor, and placing his face close to the hole, exclaimed, ‘burra sap; sabit babut burra.’ (big snake, your honor, very big.) without any more preparation, he commenced digging around the hole, and removed some of the brickwork. in a few minutes he showed the tail of the reptile, and with sundry incantations in hindostanee and curious contortions of his body, seized hold of the tail, and gradually drew forth the snake. it proved to be a fine specimen of the cobra—a black, shining, wriggling, hissing, deadly cobra, about five feet long, at the thickest part eight inches round, with a hood measuring, when extended, five inches across. the reptile he handled freely, whilst it was hissing and darting its tongue out every second. taking it in the yard or ‘compound,’ he released it. the brute wriggled itself toward him, and when within a foot or so reared itself up, spread out the enormous hood, and prepared itself to strike at its captor. but the charmer was not to be wounded. he seized his primitive instrument, and commenced very slowly to produce low and soft tones, very harmonious, but unconnected. the snake seemed astonished; his hood gradually collapsed, his head and about a foot of his body that was raised from the ground commenced to sway from side to side in perfect harmony with the music, and slower and quicker as the time was decreased or increased. as the man played louder, the snake got more excited, until the rapid and unusual movements had quite exhausted it, and it subsided.
“again the charmer seized it, and quick as lightning ran his hand up its body, holding it firmly by the throat. by pressing on its back the cobra’s mouth opened, and he disclosed the fangs, poison bags, and apparatus complete, thus proving beyond a doubt that it was not a trained or tame reptile he had been treating like a plaything. doubts still arose in my mind, however, about the genuineness of the performance, for i could not bring myself to believe that a man would willingly place himself in such close proximity to certain death.
“a fowl was obtained and placed about a foot from the reptile, which was again set free. with the same movements it raised itself a foot from the ground, spread out its hood, and with a loud hiss, apparently of satisfaction, darted upon and seized the fowl by the back of the neck. hanging there for a few seconds it let go its hold, and the man at the same instant seized it, as he had formerly done, by the head. the fowl almost instantaneously became drowsy, its head falling forward, and the beak striking with considerable force into the ground. 209the convulsive movement lasted ten seconds, and then the bird lay down as if completely comatose and powerless. in fifteen seconds it gave a sudden start and fell back quite dead.
“as no deception could have been practised in this instance, i was most anxious to see the reptile killed; but the charmer said he would not have it destroyed; that if it were injured the power he had over snakes would be interfered with, and the next one would no doubt bite and kill him. he accounted for his easy capture by saying this was a great holiday for the snakes, and that they had been enjoying themselves. ‘this one,’ said he, ‘is not living in this house. he has come from his home visiting, and has lost his way. on this account he got down a wrong hole, and i was enabled to pull him out. nasty neighbors, and abominable visitors, these cobras! i will take this snake home, and feed him and make him tame.’
“however, we insisted upon having the animal made harmless, or comparatively so, and directed the man to remove the fangs. this he agreed to do, and performed it in this manner—a piece of wood was cut an inch square, and held by the charmer to the head of the snake. the reptile seized it as he had done the fowl, and with a dexterous twist of the hand, the most primitive performance of dentistry was accomplished. the four fangs sticking into the wood were extracted by the roots and given to me. i have them now, and look upon them as more suicidally pleasant than a pint of prussic acid or a cask of white arsenic.
“another fowl was brought and attacked by the snake as before, but without any effect; it shook itself, rustled its feathers, and walked away consequentially. it is alive still, unless some enterprising culinary agent has converted it into curry or devil. so it was proved beyond any doubt that an indian snake charmer was not a humbug and a swindler, as many suppose, but a strong-minded, quick-eyed, active, courageous man. the cool determination and heroism of the charmer in the present instance was rewarded by the sum of two rupees (two shillings, sterling), and he left the compound with an extra snake in his basket, thankful to the preservers of his children, as he styled us, and to whom, he said, he owed his life and existence.”
the snakes used in performances at circus or “side shows” in this country are not poisonous, though their bite causes a painful wound, which it is very difficult to heal. the snakes are fed to satiety, and the only thing necessary to constitute a “snake charmer” of this kind is the overcoming of the natural repugnance to these reptiles. what was exhibited as a wonderful example of affection between a child and a snake some 210years ago, was a hideous humbug. the story told by the exhibitors of the little girl meeting the snake, sharing her bread and milk with it, and becoming violently attached to it (which attachment was claimed to be returned), before the child’s parents knew of it at all, and how these strong friends refused to be parted, was a tissue of lies. the snake had been caught and tamed, and the little girl then compelled by her unnatural parents to fondle the repulsive thing, from which she instinctively shrunk, and these stories were started in the papers about this wonderful “love.” when curiosity had been aroused, public exhibitions were given, but we believe the enterprises proved a deserved failure, as few persons could endure to witness this outrage on nature, though many, doubtless, believed the story told.
