Show W E D IZ 4 1 ali 1 I 1 I 1 CHARI alno A SNAKE ABID AKBAR SOI amala H an tile tho strange mysterious words ot of mons so el ham broke the si at lence lance and we me fol followed lomed him quietly almost stealthily as we me walked chanting solemnly solem nl writes george renwick in the tha london chron acle suddenly sudden the chant ceased ho be stopped and immediately ne me too stood still and Nal nailed halted ted watching notching aag eria expect expectant antl tor for we me were hunt ing for serpents in the sacred precincts ot of karnak itself comparatively few people today are interested in the ancient art of snake charming and let I 1 at it Is one of the oldest arts that exist known long before the days of Ptole mies and used even now when ahen snakes become too numerous and a trouble to the people of egypt although mary indians and fians profess to have bavo the power to fascinate serpents there are but two or three men at present who mho are really expert so that we me were mere exceptionally fortunate that at the time of our visit to luxor lexor moussa el hawy the most famous of them should be there also and that wo were mere able to arrange a hunting expedition with mith him hunting with moussa el hawy mounted on study donkeys we me h had ltd ridden out from the gi cicat eat hotel on the eastern bank of the nile out past the gardens filled with mith palms and labban trees past the great avenue of sacred sphinxes placed there 3 years ears ago by rameses 11 II then just before we reached the grand PI ion itself we turned abruptly to the right and gal loping across the sand drew up at the entrance of a grove of date palms surrounded by b a high mud wall mall awad el halla mahammed hamdi allah again the weird chanting began words that to us meant nothing the they sounded but a series 0 at names but in them to la the secret of the charm the meaning moussa told us when we me aked him later was mas this ohl oh sacred is the power pomer I 1 hold bold over 78 varieties of reptile descended to mo me from the prophet ohl oh come you snakes to me and I 1 NN will III not harm you for should I 1 kill you on I 1 would mould lose my charm moussa shook his head and started forward again walking cautiously motioning to us to follow and this time is 13 he be stopped he smiled showing his bis perfect white teeth one snake he said eald and plunging his arm into the vegetation tation at the toot foot of a tree he drew dren out a long thin lla wrig gling violently and showing its thin pointed tongue moussa dropped it tor for an instant and then as aa the snake was mas about to escape he be seized it just above the head bead and holding it close to hla face spoke to it softly while he said bald to us ua as at last he put the now quiet creature into a basket he had brought moussa now find one big cobra but not in this garden and so off we via went ment across the desert As AB we mounted our donkeys donkey s ha Haell el hawy famy had pointed to the temple of karnak but as we rodo toward one of the eastern gates it suddenly oc burred to us that it would mould be well mall to treat ineat hla his powers arid and choosing a spot where there was only an old tumbled NN wall all we me called to him to seo sea m what hat he could find hero here where hp he must be en tirel uner unprepared pared vv willingly illin glY the snake charmer jumped down and walk malk trig lug directly to the wall mall picked from the top a large scorpion which crawled and clung to his 1118 hand without even eien stopping to put the horrible thing into his basket he started st arted on again walk ing swiftly this time as aa though on the track of something worth while chanting inting ch softly as though oblivious of our disturbing presence then deft ly changing the scorpion into his other hand band moussa plunged hla his arm into a crevice in the wall mall and with an exclamation of delight pulled out a thick serpent covered with mith red spots which fought and clung to tho the pro atones one very verv bad cobra he shouted with glee glea standi standal and the cobra that he had thrown upon ill the ground la Is motionless as aa though dead another wave move and it carnic came to life again wriggling backward baLk ward and tor for waid maid twisting and turning altogether and loathsome and then as doused another riss rass it into a hole bole which he had made with mith his stick in the sand in horror we me nil all protested had lie ho allowed this dangerous ding erous creature to escape escaped oh no twice ho he struck the ground and out camo came the hat flat head to be seized and thrust together with mith the scorpion into the basket enough here we go to karnak moussa had ad stood the test and we me fol followed lomed him now with respect within the gates of karnak through the gate ot of rameses the great among the fallen columns and colonnades past the greatest obell obelisk sk in essit which still stands in its art arii ginal position and at last into thel the famous H II postle post ie hall ball mith ft ath its ele cle gant lotus pillars V hat a scene it was mas just at sunset when the glorious light from the west across the gilel touched the beautiful temple biltl gold as it has done each day da tor for morel than centuries the tourists were mere all gone ba b now and everything i was mas silent but tor for the chanting of coussa el hawy hamy which seemed to ta carry us back late into the past pait it m was as all so natural so in III keeping with nith the sur roun soundings dIngs of the old world marld that for L time we me all forgot the object of our expedition abdat and lt seemed scemer but a moment when flom behind one of the huge columns glided a grat cobra cobrac and rising itself to its full height it spread its hood head and hissed at us iti III was as though the royal roial cobra of thoi the pharaohs Phara had come down out of the paintings and come to life defying us hating us tor for disturbing the peace of centuries daring to cross the sacred threshold of the temple T two a more serpents moussa sael ea ila haw 31 found that afternoon before m we e tired of our hunt and started homem homewards ards each deada and horrible of its kind and at last before we anve departed he threw them all together upon the ground a disgusting mass crawling and hissing at eich each other to us the were repel lent and re revolting Nolting but to tile the snake charmer they were mere mond wonderful erful and wo left him comparing their beauties and describing to an admiring group of ragged urchins what splendid sport aport we anve had bad had |