720 



A HISTORY OF 



ger: most of these here mentioned have either 

 use or beauly to engage us. 



Directly descending from the crocodile, 

 we find the Cordyle, the Tockay, and the 

 Tejuguacu, all growing less in order, as J 

 have named them. These fill up the chasm 

 to he found hetvveeri the crocodile and the 

 African Iguana. 



The Iguana, which deserves our notice, is 

 about five feet long, and the body about as 

 thick as one's thigh : the skin is covered \vith 

 small scales, like those of a serpent; and the 

 back is furnished with a row of prickles, that 

 stand up, like the teeth of a saw : the eyes | 

 seem to be but half opened, except when the 

 animal is angry, and then they appear large 

 and sparkling: both the jaws are full of very 

 sharp teeth, and the bite is dangerous, though 

 not venomous, for it never lets loose till it is 

 killed. The male has a skin hanging under 

 his throat, which reaches down to his breast; 

 and, when displeased, he puffs it up like a 

 bladder: he is one-third larger and stronger 

 than the female ; though the strength of 

 either avails them little towards their defence. 

 The males are ash-coloured, and the females 

 are green. 



The flesh of these may be considered as 

 tne greatest delicacy of Africa and America; 

 and the sportsmen of those climates go out 

 to hunt the iguana, as we do in pursuit of the 

 pheasant or the hare. In the beginning of 

 the season, when the great floods of the tro- 

 pical climates are past away, and vegetation 

 starts into universal verdure, the sportsmen 

 are seen, with a noose and a stick, wander- 

 ing along the sides of the rivers to take the 

 iguana. The animal, though apparently 

 formed for combat, is the most harmless crea- 

 ture of all the forest: it lives among the trees, 

 or sports in the water, without ever offering 

 to offend; there, having fed upon the flowers 

 of the mahot, and the leaves of the mapou, 

 that grow along the banks of the stream, it 

 goes to repose upon the branches of the trees 

 that hang over the water. Upon the land the 

 animal is swift of foot; but when once in 

 possession of a tree, it seems conscious of 

 the security of its situation, and never offers 

 to stir. There the sportsman easily finds it, 

 and as easily fastens his noose round its 

 neck: if the head be placed in such a man- 



ner that the noose cannot readily be fastened, 

 by hitting the animal a blow on the nose with 

 the stick, it lifts the head, and offers it in 

 some measure to the noose. In this manner, 

 and also by the tail, the iguana is dragged 

 from the trees, and killed by repeated blows 

 on the head. 



The Chameleon is a very different animal; 

 and as the iguana satisfies the appetites of 

 the epicure, this is rather the feast of the 

 philosopher. Like the crocodile, this little 

 animal proceeds from an egg; and it also 

 nearly resembles that formidable creature in 

 form: but it differs widely in its size and its 

 appetites; being not above eleven inches 

 long, and delighting to sit upon trees, being 

 afraid of serpents, from which it is unable to 

 escape on the ground. 



The head of a large chameleon is almost 

 two inches long; and from thence to the be- 

 ginning of the tail, four and a half: the tail is 

 five inches long, and the feet two and a half: 

 the thickness of the body is different at dif- 

 ferent times; for sometimes, from the back 

 to the belly, it is two inches, and sometimes 

 but one; for it can blow itself up, and con- 

 tract itself at pleasure. The swelling and 

 contraction is not only of the back and belly, 

 but of the legs and tail. 



These different tumours do not proceed 

 from a dilatation of the breast in breathing, 

 which rises and falls by turns; but are very 

 irregular, and seem adopted merely from 

 caprice. The chameleon is often seen, as it 

 were, blown up for two hours together; and 

 then it continues growing less and less insen- 

 sibly; for the dilatation is always more quick 

 and visible than the contraction. In this last 

 state the animal appears extremely lean ; the 

 spine of the back seems sharp, and all the 

 ribs may be counted ; likewise the tendons 

 of the legs and arms may be seen very dis- 

 tinctly. 



This method of puffing itself up, is similar 

 to that in pigeons, whose crops are some- 

 times greatly distended with air. The cha- 

 meleon has a power of driving the air it 

 breaths over every part of the body : how- 

 ever, it only gets between the skin and the 

 muscles; for the muscles themselves are 

 never swollen. The skin is very cold to the 

 touch ; and though the animal seems so lean, 



