SNAKE-WORSHIP 641
pieces of meat into the air, which the birds catch very cleverly with their claws.
To kill one of these birds would be considered as heinous a crime as homicide, especially in the eyes of the followers of Vishnu. If they come across one that has been accidentally killed, they give it a splendid funeral. And they pay the same respect to the dead remains of a monkey or a snake, performing in each case various ridiculous ceremonies, in order to expiate the wickedness of the unknown author of this dreadful crime.
Snakes.
Among the many dangerous animals which infest India snakes are certainly the most to be dreaded. Though tigers are no doubt very formidable enemies, they are not answerable for nearly so many deaths as snakes. During
my stay in India hardly a month passed withoutmy hearing that some person had been killed, close to where I happened
to be living, by the bite of a poisonous snake. One of the commonest snakes, and at the same time the most venomous, is the cobra, the bite of which causes almost immediate death. It is accordingly held in peculiar veneration.
Snake-worship, which is a common form of idolatry among almost every heathen nation, no doubt owes its origin to men ' s natural fear of these reptiles. They try to propitiate the poisonous species with offerings and sacrifices, and they treat those which do not possess deadly fangs with the same amount of respect, because in their ignorance they attribute to a benevolent instinct what is really only due to want of power.
As if the actual presence of these dangerous reptiles were not sufficient to terrify the native mind, Hindu books are filled with stories and fables about them, and pictures or images of them meet you at every turn.
Snake-worshippers search for the holes where they are
likely to be found, and which more often than not are in the little mounds raised by the kariahs, or white ants. When
they have found one, they visit it from time to time, placing
before it milk, bananas, and other food which the snake is likely to fancy. If a snake happens to get into a house, far from turning out the inconvenient guest and killing it on