tastes the pungent flavour they think that he has not been
affected by snake-poison, but if it seems tasteless that he has
been bitten. Then they give him small pieces of the two antidotes
already mentioned with tobacco and 2 1/2 leaves of the _nim_ tree
[349] which is sacred to Devi. On the festival of Nag-Panchmi (Cobra's
Fifth) they worship their cobras and give them milk to drink and then
take them round the town or village and the people also worship and
feed the snakes and give a present of a few annas to the Sapera. In
towns much frequented by cobras, a special adoration is paid to
them. Thus in Hatta in the Damoh District a stone image of a snake,
known as Nag-Baba or Father Cobra is worshipped for a month before
the festival of Nag-Panchmi. During this period one man from every
house in the village must go to Nag-Baba's shrine outside and take
food there and come back. And on Nag-Panchmi the whole town goes out
in a body to pay him reverence, and it is thought that if any one is
absent the cobras will harass him for the whole year. But others say
that cobras will only bite men of low caste. The Saperas will not kill
a snake as a rule, but occasionally it is said that they kill one and
cut off the head and eat the body, this being possibly an instance
of eating the divine animal at a sacrificial meal. The following is
an old account of the performances of snake-charmers in Bengal: [350]

"Hence, on many occasions throughout the year, the dread Manasa
Devi, the queen of snakes, is propitiated by presents, vows and
religious rites. In the month of Shrabana the worship of the snake
goddess is celebrated with great eclat. An image of the goddess,
seated on a water-lily, encircled with serpents, or a branch of the
snake-tree (a species of Euphorbia), or a pot of water, with images
of serpents made of clay, forms the object of worship. Men, women and
children, all offer presents to avert from themselves the wrath of
the terrific deity. The Mals or snake-catchers signalise themselves
on this occasion. Temporary scaffolds of bamboo work are set up in
the presence of the goddess. Vessels filled with all sorts of snakes
are brought in. The Mals, often reeling with intoxication, mount
the scaffolds, take out serpents from the vessels, and allow them to
bite their arms. Bite after bite succeeds; the arms run with blood;
and the Mals go on with their pranks, amid the deafening plaudits
of the spectators. Now and then they f