red basket, but in doing this, he handled it so inexpertly that it
seized him by the finger, and retained its hold for a few seconds, as if
unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed, and intense pain appeared
to follow almost immediately; but, with all expedition, the friend of
the sufferer undid his waistcloth, and took from it two snake-stones,
each of the size of a small almond, intensely black and highly polished,
though of an extremely light substance. These he applied one to each
wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent, to which the stones
attached themselves closely, the blood that oozed from the bites being
rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article applied. The stones
adhered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the wounded man's
companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulder
towards the fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off of their own
accord; the suffering appeared to have subsided; he twisted his fingers
till the joints cracked, and went on his way without concern. Whilst
this had been going on, another Indian of the party who had come up
took from his bag a small piece of white wood, which resembled a root,
and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, which the latter
immediately inclined close to the ground; he then lifted the snake
without hesitation, and coiled it into a circle at the bottom of his
basket. The root, by which he professed to be enabled to perform this
operation with safety, he called the _Naya-thalee Kalinga_ (the root of
the snake-plant,) protected by which he professed his ability to
approach any reptile with impunity. In another instance, in 1853, Mr
Lavalliere, the District Judge of Kandy, informed me that he saw a
snake-charmer in the jungle, close by the town, search for a _cobra di
capello_, and, after disturbing it in its retreat, the man tried to
secure it, but, in the attempt, he was bitten in the thigh till blood
trickled from the wound. He instantly applied the _Pamboo-Kaloo_ (or
snake-stone), which adhered closely for about ten minutes, during which
time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards and forwards
above the stone, till the latter dropped to the ground. He assured Mr
Lavalliere that all danger was then past. That gentleman obtained from
him the snake-stone he had relied on, and saw him repeatedly afterwards
in perfect health. The substances which were used on both these
occasions are now in my pos