Dear John,
I've found something similar in the book "Kuldskap the Master And
Other Algonkin Poems"
http://www.archive.org/stream/kulskapmastero00lelauoft/kulskapmastero00lelauoft_djvu.txt
THE ORIGIN OF THE RATTLESNAKES
You know A'tosis, the Snake?
Truly all snakes are evil,
But worst among them all
Is the Rattlesnake their master.
Well I In the olden time,
The Rattlesnakes were Indians,
And they were very saucy :
Men said they were all face,
And never could be frozen;
***
p. 226
He said, "I am A'tosis,
The King of all the Serpents";
Little she cared for his nature,
She talked with him of love,
She returned his fond embraces;
Every day she came to meet him,
And often in the night.
p. 364 GLOSSARY
A'tosis, " snake " (P.) ; in M. mtaaskum, clearly not cognate.
Hope it helps.
Yan
J> We are currently annotating Kipling's splendid series of
J> articles, Brazilian Sketches (1927) , which includes an account of
J> his visit to a snake farm in San Paulo.
J> In it he refers to snakes as 'A'tosis', which Harbord thought
J> to be from the Greek. Can someone more scholarly than I help with
J> the meaning and derivation of the word ?
J> Most grateful for any help !
J> All good wishes, John R
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