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 othei*. When one eye is 

 turned forward, and the other backward, the animal's scope of 

 vision embraces the whole horizon at once. 



" The pi'evailing 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. 



" 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 Tlguane^ 

 a variety of the Lacerta Monitor, is common in the rivers of 

 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 

 the rushes and on overhanging cliffs ; but plunges into the 

 water on the slightest alarm, and remains at the bottom until 

 its fear has subsided. Being told that the flesh of it is 

 eatable, we directed our cook to prepare a dish of it for our 

 dinner. Its taste resembled that of a rabbit, but the novelty of 



