Page:Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894.djvu/46

30 showy of them being Zamenis carbonarius, the shiny black serpent known as the by the natives, and greatly feared in some districts. It is one of the longest serpents, and on account of its powers of raising itself dreadful stories are told about it, as lying in the ways and making them impassable, cutting a man in two by twisting itself round his body. It does not live long in captivity. It refuses food, and in the bags of the serpent-charmer dies very soon. They give it bran, supposing it to eat this. The fields of Palestine abound with them, and it is easier to find another than to keep the old one. They lose their shining colour when in captivity for more than a week. They live in one place, and never go far away. A carbonarius that I let loose in the field near the house remained in the vicinity for years, coming out in the warm hours of the day, and hiding during the hottest. Next to this, the Coluber Æsculapii is mostly carried about by Derwishes; it is a very showy serpent, often as thick as a man's arm, and nearly 2 metres long, it resists hunger a good deal better than the carbonarius. The snake-charmers take the snakes simply out of the bag, put them round their neck, and make them run on the ground. A snake seldom attacks its owner, and if it does bite, the man licks the tiny wound it makes—wholly without danger—to the great astonishment of the bystanders, and coppers flow in on such occasions.

Besides these two they have the Zamenis viridiflarus, which they call Yahudieh, or Heiet el Beit, (Jewess or house serpent), then the Cœlopeltis lacertina,, Rabda, and the Coluber quadrilineatus,  Nashabé, the jumper, of which serpent they have many tales, as its flying across valleys, and even penetrating camels, from its velocity, and many fear it greatly. This is probably the serpent mentioned, Isaiah xiv, 29, a fiery flying serpent. The Eryx jaculus—known as Barjeel, is supposed to be one of the most deadly serpents, though as innocent as any serpent can be. An Erfa'i Derwish handled them with the greatest caution, and was greatly astonished to see me take them up without previous talk; although he well knew that he himself was not poison-proof, he considered me initiated into some real secrets, altogether unknown to him, and wondered why I never handled the Daboia-Xanthina, which is a very deadly snake. The Daboia, in fact, is the only poisonous serpent I found with such Derwishes, but they get rid of them as soon as they can, and change them for show's sake with the finer spotted Coluber Zamenis Viridiflarus. As an excuse they say that the viper (Daboia) is deaf, and does not hear the invocation of the very holy Erfa'i. I have known several ignorant Erfa'i Derwishes misled by the idea that all serpents are venomous, and having tried all kinds without danger, also treat the Daboia viper in the same way. Two, I know, died in 1892—the one working at Jaffa was warned by the owner of the grounds, but invoked the Erfa'i. He felt his strength going about an hour after the bite, and twenty-four hours afterwards was