A SERPENT-CHARMER.
With an instrument somewhat resembling a flute he began playing a dull, monotonous air; in a few moments there was a movement under the bit of cloth that lay in the basket, and presently the head of a cobra appeared. Slowly the snake elevated himself till nearly half his length was in the air, and as long as the music continued he swayed his head backward and forward, and apparently tried to keep time to the tune. When the musician laid aside his flute the snake subsided, and crawled under the blanket as though he wished to go to sleep again. The performance was over, and the man advanced with a low bow and extended his hand for his reward. The Doctor gave him a sixpence, another spectator added a similar amount, and the snake-charmer went away satisfied.
"He was only an ordinary performer," said the Doctor; "I can show you some that far excel him before we have been long in India. Their adroitness will astonish you, and some of their tricks will appear like the work of a magician; I will not detract from their interest by telling you what they will do, but would rather have you wait and see for yourselves. The time for our return to the ship is approaching, and we had better move on."
Suiting the action to the word the Doctor rose, and was followed by the youths. In a little while they were passing through the surf and out toward the ship, which they reached without mishap of any kind. A little past noon the anchor was lifted, and the steamer was under way for Madras.
It is about ninety miles from Pondicherry to Madras, and as the steamer was not a fast one, it was well into the night before she arrived at the latter port. The captain announced that she would remain there until evening of the second day after their arrival, and thus they would have two full days on shore. They could do as they liked about coming off to sleep on board or staying at a hotel. As there was a good chance of a wetting in the surf while going back and forth, it did not take a long consultation for them to decide to remain on shore. Rising early in the morning they ate a light breakfast, and then took their satchels with such toilet-articles as they desired during their single night on land. Plenty of boats were at the ship's side, and a bargain was made to the effect that for two rupees each they were to be carried to the shore and back again, with a rupee additional to the crew by way of perquisite.
MASULLAH-BOATS IN THE SURF AT MADRAS.
The boat they engaged was of the variety known as the masullah; it was made of long thin planks, and the sides were very high in order to keep out the surf, or as much of it as possible. The planks extended from one end of the boat to the other, and were tied together with coir ropes running through small holes bored in the edges. The seams were calked with the fibres of the cocoa-nut-tree, and daubed with pitch; but in spite of this precaution the craft was a leaky one, and a man was occupied more than half the time in baling her out. The bottom was flat, and covered with a quantity of small twigs to keep the feet of the passengers from getting wet; the crew wore neither shoes nor stockings, and consequently it made little difference to them whether their feet were wet or dry.
The captain of the steamer told them that the masullah-boat was a remarkable construction, and though it appeared frail, it was in reality very strong. "It goes on the waves instead of through them," said he, "and is therefore just what is wanted for the surf. The sides are so flexible that they can be brought close together, and then sprung out again without apparent injury, as I have seen them do repeatedly. They bump against the sides of our ship for hours without any more effect on them than on a rubber ball, and they will carry any sort of cargo that can be lowered into them."