te on my estates, but have, since the date
mentioned, never heard of but one case in my neighbourhood, and that was
of a boy who was killed by some deadly snake about four or five miles from
my house. I made inquiries in Bangalore on this subject. Now Bangalore is
a place which always had a bad reputation as regards cobras. The
population is large, and there are, of course, numerous gardens, and many
grass cutters are employed, and the occupations there of a large number of
people are such as to make them liable to risk from snake bite; and yet,
in the course of the year, there had only been, three cases of snake bite.
How is it then that such an infinitesimal number of the cases reported on
occur within the cognizance of Europeans? And unless some competent
observer is at hand to determine the cause of death, what can be easier
than to poison a man, puncture his skin, and then point to the puncture as
an evidence that the death was caused by snake bite?

Of one thing I feel certain, and that is, that the cobra is a timid snake,
that it is not at all inclined to bite, and unless assailed and so
infuriated, will not bite, even if trodden on by accident, as long as the
snake is not hurt, which, of course, it would not be if trodden upon by
the bare foot, and that is why, I feel sure, I have so rarely heard of a
man being bitten by a snake during my long experience in India. I can give
a remarkable confirmatory instance, which happened at my bungalow some
years ago. My English servant had got his feet wet one morning, and had
placed his shoes to dry on a ledge of the bungalow just above the place
where the bath-room water runs out. At about three in the afternoon he
went in his slippers round the end of the bungalow to get his shoes, and
trod on a cobra which was lying in the soft and rather muddy ground
created by the bath-room water. He had stepped on to about the middle of
the snake's body, but probably rather nearer the tail than the head. The
cobra then reared up its body, spread its hood, hissed, and struggled to
get free, while my servant held up his hands to avoid the chance of being
bitten, and he said that he could see that the afternoon sun was
illuminating the interior of its throat, but he was afraid to let it go,
thinking that it would then be more able to bite him. This, however, he is
quite positive it never attempted to do, and after some moments of
hesitation he jumped to one side, and the snake, so far fro