fo that in India it is held to be the emblem of Prudence; it is
alfo held in veneration equal to a deity. The legends of the
country are full of ftrange tales relating to its aitions; they call
it Nella Pambou, or the good ferpent', it is often reprefented
twilled round the deities, under the name of Calengam, in memory
o f the viitory o f one o f their gods, over an enormous
Naja.
T h i s certainly is not the D eaf Adder. The Indian jugglers,
efpecially thofe of Malabar, have a power o f taming thefe
dreadful animals, and inftruiting them to dance, after the inharmonious
and flow air o f their flagelets. The ferpent firft
feems ailpnilhed, then begins to rear himfelf, and fometimes by
a gentle motion of the head, and with diftended hood, feems to
liften with pleafure to the notes. This is faid not to be peculiar
to thofe which are accuftomed to the exercife, but even the
fnakes newly taken, will ihew the fame difpolition, and fling
themfelves into the fame attitudes.
Nieuhoff gives a plate of thefe jugglers, and their fnakes, and
Kampfer a much better.
I s h a l l mention here two or three Indian ferpents, defcribed
by M. d'Obfonville, notwithftanding I am uncertain o f their
native place; one is called, in French, le Javelot, a fpecies o f Jaculas,
o f a green color, five or fix feet long, and moll fatal in
its bite. It generally lurks, extended or fufpended, among the
branches o f trees. So fituated, that they either can dart on their
prey, fuch as little birds or infetfts, or remove themfelves with
* üee Voyages aux Indes Orient par M. Sonnerat. Tom. i. p. p. 168,169, tab. 45, 46, 47.
a fpring
a fpring from bough to bough. It does not appear that they
attack mankind, but rather glide from his approach: but
the Indians have the fame notion as the Arabs have, o f its being
a flying ferpent.
T h e Poifon-Snake is only two feet long, and very flender, Poijon-Swake.
and freckled with pale brown or red. Its bite brings death as
rapidly as Lucan's Volucer ferpens. Our author faw a Gentoo
bit by one. The fufferer could only give a fhriek, and advance
a few fteps, when he fell down dead.
T h e Burning-ferpent feems to poffefs the dreadful poifon of B u rn in g -S e r -
three fpecies : It gives by its bite the fymptoms o f raging fire, MNT‘
like the Torrida dip/as. It caufes, at other times, the blood to
flow through every pore, like the Haemorrhois; at other times,
to caufe fwelling like the Prefer, and to incite racking pains;
at length, by a happy numbnefs, death brings kindly relief to
the miferable fufferer. The Reverend Edward ferry * faw a
criminal put to death at Amedavad, with all the effeits o f the
bite of the Dip/as and o f the Prefer. This fpecies much re-
fembles th e la ft in form; both inhabit dry, hot', and rocky
places; and live on infers full o f faline and acrimonious particles,
which cannot fail o f exalting the virus o f the ferperits that
make them their food.
O u r great Ray, Syn. Suadr. 33T, enumerates feveral o f the
Ceylonefe ferpents : one is the Oehatulla, i. e. oculis infefus, the
very fame with that defcribed above, under the name o f Javelot.
T h e Ninypolonga is the fame, with the Afp, which kills the
perfon it bites, by flinging him into an endlefs fleep.
* Voyage, in 1615, p. 381,
T h e