Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 115

SNAKE-CHARMERS
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music
and they perform what appear to be the most
alarming tricks with these deadly reptiles. In spite of all
their care and skill it sometimes happens that they are
and this would infallibly cost them their lives, did
bitten
they not take the precaution to excite the snake every
morning, forcing it to bite several times through a thick
piece of stuff so that it may rid itself of the venom that
re-forms daily in its fangs. They also pose as possessors of
the secret of enchanting snakes, pretending that they can
This craft
attract them with the sound of their flutes.
was practised elsewhere in the very earliest times, as may
be gathered from a passage in Holy Scripture, where the
obstinacy of a hardened sinner is likened to that of a deaf
adder that shuts its ears to the voice of the charmer. Be
that as it may, I can vouch for it that the pretended power
They keep
of Hindu snake-charmers is a mere imposture.
a few trained tame snakes, which are accustomed to come
to them at the sound of a flute, and when they have settled
the amount of their reward with the persons who think,
or have been persuaded, that there are snakes in the
vicinity of their houses, they place one of these tame
reptiles in some corner, taking care not to be observed.
One of the conditions on which they always insist is that
any snake which they charm out of a hole shall not be killed,
but shall be handed over to them. This point settled, the
charmer seats himself on the ground and begins to play
on his flute, turning first to one side, then to the other.
The snake, on hearing these familiar sounds, comes out of
its hiding-place, and crawls towards its master, gliding
quietly into the basket in which it is usually shut up.
The charmer then takes his reward and goes off in search
of other dupes \
I will now give some particulars about the wild tribes
which inhabit the jungles and mountains in the south of
India.
They are divided into several castes, each of which
is
composed of various communities. They are fairly
;
;
1
Even to this clay there is a class of village servants called Kudimis,
whose business it is to collect medicinal herbs and other plants that
might be required by the people. These Krtdijnix arc also profe