Europeans who have seen these snake-men catch cobras say that their
skilfulness and boldness are remarkable. They seize the snake with bare
hands as it glides through the grass. This is a trick of legerdemain in
which everything depends on the dexterity of the fingers and a quickness
greater than that of the snake itself. The snake-catcher seizes the tail
with his left hand and passes the right with lightning rapidity along
the body up to the head, which he grips with the thumb and forefinger so
that the snake is held as in a vice. Probably the trick consists in
depriving the snake of support to its body with the left hand and
producing undulations which annul those of the reptile itself.

When charmers go out to catch snakes they are always in parties of two
or three. Some of them take with them antidotes to snake bites. If a man
is bitten, a bandage is wound tightly above the wound and the poison is
sucked out. Then a small black stone, as large as an almond, is laid on
the wound. This absorbs blood and some at least of the poison. Adhering
fast to the wound, it does not fall off until it has finished its work.
That so many men die of snake bites is, of course, because assistance
comes too late.

When the charmer begins to play with a cobra he fixes his eyes on it and
never removes them for a second. And the same is true of the cobra, which
keeps its eyes constantly on the charmer. It is like a duel in which
one of the combatants is liable to be killed if he does not parry at
the right moment. Still more watchful is a cobra when he fights with a
mongoose. The mongoose is a small beast of prey of the Viverridae family.
It is barely as large as a cat, has a long body and short legs, and is
the deadly enemy of the cobra. There is a splendid story in Mr. Kipling's
_Jungle Book_ of how a pet mongoose--"Rikki-tikki-tavi"--killed two large
cobras.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] Delhi is again to be the capital of the Empire of British India
(see footnote on p. 141).

[12] At the great Durbar held at Delhi on December 12, 1911, King George
V. announced that the capital of India would be transferred from
Calcutta to Delhi.

XI

FROM INDIA TO CHINA (1908)

THE INDIAN OCEAN

On October 14, 1908, we leave Bombay in the steamer _Delhi_,[13] which
is bound for Shanghai with passengers and cargo. The _Delhi_ is a fine
steamer, 495 feet long, and of 8000 tons burden; it is one of the great
fleet of the Peninsular and Oriental