f'AYMAX FLESH. 181 



proaclicd the water there was a piece of jungle, or 

 low thicket, before him, and he was turning to the 

 left in order to pass round by the side opposite the 

 boat, thinking he might yet find game, when see- 

 ing the men labouring hard to drag the tree they 

 had felled towards the water, he altered his course 

 and went to their assistance. No sooner had he 

 entered the boat than he discovered, on that side 

 of the jungle to which he was first going, a large 

 cayman, close to the beach, watching their motions. 

 Had he gone the way he purposed, he must cer- 

 tainly have encountered this monster, and most 

 thankful did he feel for this second preservation 

 of his life. He adds" Part of the flesh of the 

 cayman is good and wholesome, when well cooked. 

 It tastes somewhat like pork, for which I took it 

 and ate it with much relish when I first came to 

 the island, till, discovering what it w r as, I felt a 

 loathing which I could never overcome ; but it is 

 eaten by both natives and Europeans." 



Serpents abound in the Nicobar Islands, though 

 not in such numbers as on the coast of Coromandel. 

 Of some of the more rare and curious, Haensel has 

 given a striking account. " I wish I could gratify 

 you," he says, " with a list of the different kinds of 

 serpents, crabs, spiders, and other creatures which 

 I caught everywhere, either to stuff, put into spirits, 

 or otherwise prepare for my customers. At our 



