CREATURES OF DARKNESS 209 



by the cliff and spent long hours on the beach watching the 

 surf and the pelicans fishing near the reef. 



One day I strayed further than usual up the coast to a point 

 where the stone cliffs disappeared and were replaced by a long 

 ribbon of gleaming white sand that stretched endlessly away 

 as far as Lantern Head. Back of the beach were a number of 

 old cocoanut palms, some of which had fallen and were decay- 

 ing on the ground. Among these I found some fragments of 

 lizard eggs of a type I had not seen before. Becoming engrossed 

 in locating other clutches or perhaps the lizard that laid them 

 I stayed quite late. Then, when I caught a fleeting glimpse of 

 a sleek brown body that scrambled away under the bark leaving 

 a wriggling tail in my hand as proof of its existence, I became 

 very much interested and finally succeeded in capturing the 

 owner, a dark brown, soft looking lizard with great liquid eyes 

 which had golden yellow vertical pupils. It had no eyeHds and 

 the eyes moved under a crystal-clear cap somewhat like the 

 crystal of a watch. Its skin was coated with tiny granular scales 

 which gave it the appearance of fine velvet. Under each of its 

 toes was a broad adhesive pad which enabled it to climb vertical 

 tree trunks and even run rapidly upside down under branches. 

 It was a gecko, and as subsequent examination proved, a new 

 genus and a new species. 



Although I had been over the same area many times I had 

 failed to discover it before although the palms swarmed with 

 Anolis and Sphaerodactylus, and the ground with Ameiva and 

 Letocephalus lizards. The vertical, cat-like pupils showed me 

 the reason. This lizard, like the tiny insect Sphaerodactylus 

 which was much more common, was nocturnal; its round of 

 movement began when I, and all the other creatures of the day, 

 had gone to sleep. 



The next half hour's search failed to locate any more speci- 

 mens and I decided to give it up and return another day with 



