This celebrated Serpent has long been famous, not only for the deadly power of its venom, but for the singular performances in which it takes part. The Cobra inhabits many parts of Asia, and in almost every place where it is found, certain daring men take upon themselves the profession of serpent-charmers, and handle these fearful reptiles with impunity, cause them to move in time to certain musical sounds, and assert that they bear a life charmed against the bite of these deadly playmates. One of these men will take a Cobra in his bare hands, toss it about with perfect indifference, allow it to twine about his naked breast, tie it around his neck, and treat it with as little ceremony as if it were an earth-worm. He will then take the same Serpent--or apparently the same--make it bite a fowl, which soon dies from the poison, and will then renew his performance. Some persons say that the whole affair is but an exhibition of that jugglery in which the natives of the East Indies are such wondrous adepts; that the Serpents with which the man plays are harmless, having been deprived of their fangs, and that a really venomous specimen is adroitly substituted for the purpose of killing the fowl. It is, moreover, said, and truly, that a snake thought to have been rendered harmless by the deprivation of its fangs, has bitten one of its masters and killed him, thus proving the imposture. Still, neither of these explanations will entirely disprove the mastery of man over a venomous Serpent. In the first instance, it is surely as perilous an action to substitute a venomous Serpent as to play with it. Where was it hidden, why did it not bite the man instead of the fowl, and how did the juggler prevent it from using its teeth while he was conveying it away? And, in the second instance, the detection of one impostor is by no means a proof that all who pretend to the same powers are likewise impostors. The following narrative by a traveller in the East seems to prove that the serpent-charmer possessed sufficient power to induce a truly poisonous Serpent to leave its hole, and to perform certain antics at his command: "A snake-charmer came to my bungalow, requesting me to allow him to show his snakes. As I had frequently seen his performance, I declined to witness a repetition of it, but told him that if he would accompany me to the jungle and catch a Cobra, that I knew frequented the place, I would give him a present of money. He was quite willing, and as I was anxious to test the truth of the charm he claimed to possess, I carefully counted his tame snakes, and put a guard over them until we should return. "Before starting I also examined his clothing, and satisfied myself that he had no snake about his person. When we arrived at the spot, he commenced playing upon a small pipe, and, after persevering for some time, out crawled a large Cobra from an ant-hill which I knew it occupied.