MONITORS. 115 



attack quadrupeds that come to quencli their 

 thirst ; and that he has seen them attack a young 

 stag as he attempted to swim across a river, in 

 order to drown him. He even declares that he 

 found the thigh-bone of a sheep in the stomach 

 of one which he dissected. Inhabiting, in many 

 cases, w^aters which are likewise tenanted by 

 Crocodiles and Alligators, they are vulgarly be- 

 lieved to be beneficial to mankind by giving 

 warning of the proximity of these much-dreaded 

 creatures. This, it is asserted, they do by a 

 hissing, or whistling sound ; and though, pro- 

 bably, having little foundation in truth, this 

 reputation has procured them the names of Moni- 

 tors, Sauvegardes, &c., and has caused them to 

 be regarded with a measure of popular respect. 



Genus Varanvs. (Merr.) 



The scales of the body in this genus are set side 

 by side in the skin, and are each surrounded by 

 a ring of small and close-set tubercles : the upper 

 edge of the tail is more or less sharp, and there 

 is a fold beneath the neck, passing transversely 

 in front of the breast. 



We illustrate the terrestrial Monitors by the 

 White -throated Varan of South Africa, {Varanus 

 alhogularis, Kuhl,) a species the locality of which 

 was unknown, till it was met with by Dr. A. 

 Smith in his late zoological expedition into the 

 interior of that continent. Though he did not 

 obtain any specimens of this Lizard south of 

 Latakoo, yet there is reason to believe that it 

 has been occasionally seen within the limits of 

 the Cape Colony ; and the Doctor supposes that 



