A modern traveller assures us, that he has repeatedly observed, in
the island of Madeira, that the lizards are attracted by the notes of
music, and that he has assembled a number of them by the powers of
his instrument. He tells us also, that when the negroes catch them,
for food, they accompany the chase, by whistling some tune, which has
always the effect of drawing great numbers towards them.
Stedman, in his expedition to Surinam, describes certain sibyls among
the negroes, who, among several singular practices, can charm or
conjure down from the tree certain serpents, who will wreath about the
arms, neck, and breast of the pretended sorceress, listening to her
voice. The sacred writers speak of the charming of adders and serpents;
and nothing, says he, 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.