36 
them hold of a long thread, suspended from the twig on 
which they usually perched, and they would invariably climb 
up to the twig, ‘hand over hand,’ as seamen term it. 
* All the motions of the chameleon, except those of its - 
tongue, are extremely slow and deliberate. At every step, - 
it pauses, coils its tail round the twig, and turns its eye in 
every direction. The eyes are exceedingly prominent, and 
covered all over with the common skin, excepting a very 
small orifice, through which the light is admitted. They 
turn in their sockets, like scioptic balls, and their movements 
are entirely independent of each other. "When one eye is 
turned forward, and the other backward, the animal's scope of —— 
vision embraces the whole horizon at once. 
* The prevailing colour of the Cape Chameleon is a verdi- 
gris green, which verges at night to a golden yellow, and in the 
daytime, frequently, to a dark grey. Along the side, there - 
runs a broad stripe of a pale cream colour, which in its - 
shades keeps pace with the changes that occur in the pre- - 
dominant hue. As to the notion that the chameleon changes 
its tint to that of every object on which it is placed, I never 
could perceive it. I am rather inclined to think, that the 
variations of colour are quite independent of external objects, — 
except so far as these tend to irritate or excite it. 3 
* The chameleon is viviparous. It drops its young, enclosed _ 
with a portion of fluid in a membranous bag, which adheres _ 
by means of its slimy surface to the first object it touches. — 
In the course of a few minutes, the foetus bursts through its — 
envelope, and enters on its natural vocation of fly-catching. — 
“The amphibious Lizard, known by the name of 7? Iguane, — 
a variety of the Lacerta Monitor, is common in the rivers of d 
Lutenhage. This reptile is of a black, or rather a bistre 
colour, beautifully speckled with yellow, and measures four or - 
five feet in length. It loves to bask in the sunshine, among d 
the rushes and on overhanging cliffs; but plunges into the — 
water on the slightest alarm, and remains at the bottom until f 
its fear has subsided. Being told that the flesh of it i$ — 
eatable, we directed our cook to prepare a dish of it for oUt — 
dinner. Its taste resembled that of a rabbit, but the novelty 6f. i 
