476 Natural History in foreign Countries : — 



cow-leather. As you advance towards the mountains of 

 Demerara, other species of humming-birds present themselves 

 before you. It seems to be an erroneous opinion that the 

 humming-bird lives entirely on honey-dew. Almost every 

 flower of the tropical climate contains insects of one kind or 

 another: now, the humming-bird is most busy about the 

 flowers an hour or two after sunrise, and after a shower of 

 rain; and it is just at this time that the insects come out to 

 the edge of the flower, in order that the sun's rays may dry 

 the nocturnal dew and rain which they have received. On 

 opening the stomach of the humming-bird, dead insects are 

 almost always found there." [Waterton.) 



The Green or Esculent Turtle. {White's Selborne, p. 148.) 

 Among my notes made on my voyage home, in 1823, I find 

 the following memorandum, dated the 3d of July : — " At 

 10 A.M. saw the Island of Grand Cayman; at 11, a canoe 

 came alongside with nine turtles, the largest weighing 1 50 lbs., 

 the smallest about 1 5 lbs. The owner offered them for sale, 

 and wanted \0d, Jamaica currency (7^. sterling) per lb.: the 

 captain said it was too much, and the turtler went away, 

 but returned again in twenty minutes, when Mr. S. (a pas- 

 senger on board) bought six, at 9d. per lb. The turtles on 

 board ship are kept in puncheons of salt water, which is 

 changed every four or five days. A hole, about eight inches 

 square, is made in the bulge of the puncheon, to admit air and 

 food consisting of chopped plantain stalks and fowls' entrails ; 

 but many turtles never eat any thing during the whole voyage. 

 Turtles will sometimes weigh more at their being landed 

 here than when shipped in the West Indies ; others, again, 

 fall off considerably ; but much depends upon the weather, 

 and attention to changing the water frequently. The price of 

 turtle, in Jamaica, is the same as that of beef. Sailors on 

 board ships bound to Honduras, for mahogany, make an 

 agreement with the captain that they shall not be obliged to 

 eat turtle more than two or three times a week. The eggs of 

 the turtle are globular, the shell is soft like parchment, and 

 is readily indented by pressure: although not unpalatable, 

 many people do not like them, especially at first eating. 



Lizards. [White's Selborne, p. 54.) Lizards abound in 

 Jamaica, and are of numerous species. Cats eat them very 

 commonly, but it is always noticed that they do not thrive on 

 such diet. There is one small sort, not much bigger than the 

 English eft [iacerta vulgaris L.], which creeps about the 

 walls, inside the houses : it is considered wrong to disturb it, 

 as the natives believe it to be ominous of a happy increase in 

 the family. I have specimens of three species, each of which 



