Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/169

 CHAPTER XII.

SKETCHES AT ALLAHABAD.

"THE LAMP BURNS NOT BEFORE THE BLACK SNAKE ,"

Which, like the Burmese idols, is supposed to carry a bright jewel in its head.

1829.—The Snake-charmer—Ram Leela—Board of Works—The Hukāk—Kurand Patthar—Pebbles from the Soane and Cane Rivers—Raj Ghāt—The Dhrumsālalā]—The Ginee—Temple of H[)u]noomān, Ram, and Seeta—Ravuna the Giant—Bene-Māhadēo~ ?]—The Adansonia—Little Jack Bunce—Encampment of the Governor-general—Ashes of a Rajah consigned to the Ganges—Christmas-boxes.

1829, Oct.—Snakes are very numerous in our garden; the cobra de capello, and the black snake, whose bite is just as mortal. This morning I turned over some tiles with my foot, when a cobra I had disturbed glided into the centre of the heap, where we killed him.

Mohummud said, "Kill snakes, and kill the snake which has two black lines upon its back, and kill the snake called abter, on account of its small tail; for verily these two kinds of snake blind the eyes as soon as they are looked at. You must not kill the snakes that live in the houses, because they are not snakes but a kind of genii. Domestic snakes, which are genii, must be warned to depart; if they do not, they are to be killed. The genii are of three kinds, one kind have wings, and fly; another are snakes and dogs; and the third move about from place to place like men."