33G 



CHAPTER XIII. 



METTEZ Ics ilcux chameleons ensemble, 

 Ccluy (I'EgN j)te, et cehii d'Arabie : 

 On trouvtra dirtfitnoe en leur vie, 

 Mesnie en coiiUur Tun Taiitre ne ressemble, 



says the quatrain with which the portrait of the chame- 

 leon* is enriched m the Port raits cVOi/seaux, Aninuiux. 

 Seri)ens, Ilerhes, Arbres, Homines et FeTmnes, observez 

 2Kir P. Belon du Mans, and the record is true. Of this 

 curious form of the lacertine race there are several species, 

 and every year many arrive in tliis country to hnger out 

 an unnatural existence of a few weeks. 



In a state of freedom, and in its natural haunts, the 

 chameleon would seem to be a very different being from 

 the torpid invalid seen here in confinement. Hasselquist 

 speaks almost rapturously of it, calling it an ' elegant 

 creature.' He tells us that it is frequently found in the 

 neighbourhood of SmjTua, particularly near the village 

 Sedi2eud. There he describes it as climbincj the trees, 

 and running among the stones. The people of the 

 country told him that it lived in hollow trees. Hassel- 

 quist was not an eye-witness of this habit ; but often 

 saw it climb on the branches of the olive, plane, and 

 other trees. He had seen the chameleon of Egj^i^t ; but 

 observes that it is less than the Asiatic, and is not often 

 met ^^'ith. 



When Hasselquist made all the inquir}' he could con- 



* The ancients WTote of an herb of the same name which grew 

 among the rocks on the sea-shore, and was said to change the 

 colour of its flowers thrice a-dav. 



