ly gone and summoned forth two snakes of the most
poisonous kind, which he seized in his hands and brought, in the
presence of the relator, to the Consular threshold. Now it happened to
me to see the whole of this scene. I was wandering about the Consul's
court, gazing at the curiosities scattered around, enough to have set up
any European museum with an Egyptian branch, and particularly, I
remember, at a lame mummy's crutch, found with him in his coffin, on
which it is possible the original owner hopped away from the plague of
frogs. An old rural Arab of respectable appearance was standing at the
Consul's door, holding in his hand the crooked stick which an Arab keeps
to recover the halter of his camel if he happens to lose it while
mounted, and presenting altogether a parallel to a substantial yeoman
with his riding-whip, come to town to do a little justice business with
the Mayor. A stable-keeper came and said, that two snakes had made their
appearance in the stable; on which the Arab, being no more in the habit
of fearing such vermin than a European farmer of fearing rats, proceeded
towards the stable, and I followed him. Sure enough there were two
snakes in dalliance in the horse's stall; and my construction was, that
it was the poor animals' St. Valentine. The Arab, however, ruthlessly
smote them with his gib stick, in a way that showed an exact
comprehension of what would settle a snake; and brought them hanging by
the tails and still writhing with the remains of life, and laid them at
the threshold of the house. I looked at the snakes, and felt a strong
persuasion that they were of a harmless kind; but whether they were or
not, was of small moment as the Arab treated them.

I remember in India once driving one of the snake-jugglers to discovery.
He told the servants there were snakes in the stable; and offered to
produce one. He accordingly went, with piping and other ceremonies, and
soon demonstrated a goodly _cobra de capello_ struggling by the tail. He
secured this in his repertory of snakes, and said he thought there was
another; on which he went through the same operations again. Though he
had been too quick for me on both occasions, I offered him a rupee to
produce a third, which he agreed to; and this time I saw the snake's
head, struggling rather oddly in his nether garments. He ran into the
horse's stall, rushed forward with a shriek to distract attention, and
then I saw him jerk out a snake of some four