360 Voyage of the Novara. 



of open screen-work is usually put up before the entrance, to 

 prevent a too minute inspection of the interior, by the prying 



eyes of inquisitive passers-by. At Galle we, for the first time, 

 saw the ** Punkah," a sort of fan peculiar to India, which 

 stretches from one end of the roof of the room to the other, and 

 being swung to and fro by a servant produces a refreshing cool- 

 ness. Here, too, we first became acquainted with the " Gecko " 

 {Hemidactylus maculatus), an elegant little house-lizard, 

 which, with graceful agility, runs to and fro upon the walls, 

 windows, and roofs, and speedily becomes as familiar with man 

 as a pet-dog or kitten. They usually make their appearance 

 towards evening, when, without the slightest symptoms of 

 timidity, they begin their surprising evolutions, during which 

 they catch gnats with astonishing dexterity, and although they 



