Note 3 — CHAP. XXVI.

But what is still more strange, these unaccountable women by their voice know how to charm the ammodytes,3 or papaw serpent, down from the tree. This is an absolute fact; nor is this snake ever killed or hurt by the negroes, who, on the contrary, esteem it as their friend and guardian, and are happy to see it enter their huts. When these sibyls have charmed or conjured down the ammodytes serpent from the tree, it is common to see this reptile twine and wreathe about their arms, neck and breast, as if the creature took delight in hearing her voice, while the woman strokes and caresses it with her hand. The sacred writers speak of the charming of adders and serpents in many places, which I mention only to prove the antiquity of the practice4; for nothing is more notorious, than that the Eastern Indians will rid the houses of the most venomous snakes by charming them with the sound of a flute, which calls them out of their holes. And it is not many years since an Italian woman brought over three tame snakes, which crawled about her neck and arms: they were four or five feet long, but not venomous.