In the month of July, 1791, (says an eminent historian,) we were
travelling in Upper Canada, with several families of savages, belonging
to the nation of the Onontagues. One day, when we had halted in
a spacious plain on the bank of the river Genesse, a rattlesnake
entered our encampment.— Among us was a Canadian who could play on
the flute, and who, to divert us, advanced against the serpent with
his new species of weapon. On the approach of his enemy, the haughty
reptile curls himself into a spiral line, flattens his head, inflates
his cheeks, contracts his lips, displays his envenomed fangs, and his
bloody throat: his double tongue glows like two flames of fire; his
eyes are burning coals: his body, swollen with rage, rises and falls
like the bellows of a forge: his dilated skin assumes a dull and scaly
appearance: and his tail, whence proceeds the death-denouncing sound,
vibrates with such rapidity as to resemble a light vapour.
The Canadian now begins to play upon his flute; the serpent starts
with surprise, and draws back his head. In proportion as he is struck
with the magic effect, his eyes lose their fierceness, the oscillations
of his tail become slower, and the sound which it emits grows weaker,
and gradually dies away. Less perpendicular upon their spiral line,
the rings of the charmed serpent are, by degrees, expanded, and sink,
one after another, upon the ground in concentric circles. The shades
of azure, green, white, and gold, recover their brilliancy on his
quivering skin; and slightly turning his head, he remains motionless,
in the attitude of attention and pleasure.
At this moment, the Canadian advanced a few steps, producing, with his
flute, sweet and simple notes. The reptile, inclining his variegated
neck, opens a passage with his head, through the high grass, and
begins to creep after the musician; stopping when he stops, and
beginning to follow him again as soon as he moves forward. In this
manner he was led out of our camp, attended by a great number of
spectators, both savages and Europeans, who could scarcely believe
their eyes when they witnessed this wonderful effect of harmony. The
assembly unanimously decreed, that the serpent which had so highly
entertained them, should be permitted to escape.
_M. de Chateaubriand._