in ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 305 



size, but such monsters are rare. In Borneo, Mr. St. John 

 states that he measured one twenty-six feet long, probably 

 the largest ever measured by a European in the East. The 

 great water -boa of South America is believed to reach the 

 largest size. Mr. Bates measured skins twenty-one feet long, 

 but the largest ever met with by a European appears to be 

 that described by the botanist, Dr. Gardiner, in his Travels in 

 Brazil. It had devoured a horse, and was found dead, en- 

 tangled in the branches of a tree overhanging a river, into 

 which it had been carried by a flood. It was nearly forty 

 feet long. These creatures are said to seize and devour full- 

 sized cattle on the Eio Branco ; and from what is known of 

 their habits this is by no means improbable. 



Frogs and Toads 



The only Amphibia that often meet the traveller's eye in 

 equatorial countries are the various kinds of frogs and toads, 

 and especially the elegant tree-frogs. When the rainy season 

 begins, and dried-up pools and ditches become filled with 

 water, there is a strange nightly concert produced by the 

 frogs, some of which croak, others bellow, while many have 

 clanging or chirruping, and not unmusical notes. In roads 

 and gardens one occasionally meets huge toads six or seven 

 inches long ; but the most abundant and most interesting of 

 the tribe are those adapted for an arboreal life, and hence 

 called tree-frogs. Their toes terminate in discs, by means of 

 which they can cling firmly to leaves and stems. The majority 

 of them are green or brown, and these usually feed at night, 

 sitting quietly during the day so as to be almost invisible, 

 owing to their colour and their moist shining skins so closely 

 resembling vegetable surfaces. Many are beautifully marbled 

 and spotted, and when sitting on leaves resemble large beetles 

 more than frogs, while others are adorned with bright and 

 staring colours ; and these, as Mr. Belt has discovered, have 

 nauseous secretions which render them uneatable, so that they 

 have no need to conceal themselves. Some of these are bright 

 blue, others are adorned with yellow stripes, or have a red 

 body with blue legs. Of the smaller tree-frogs of the tropics 

 there must be hundreds of species still unknown to naturalists. 



