56 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



of my moonshis, Jose Prebhoo, a Con- 

 cani of one of the numerous families 

 descended from Xavier's converts, 

 gravely informed me that in the old 

 days iguanas were used in gaming ac- 

 cess to besieged places ; for, said he, " A 

 large iguana, sahib, is so strong that if 

 three or four men laid hold of its tail he 

 could drag them up a wall or a tree " ! 

 This Jose Prebhoo was full of stories, 

 and constituted himself raconteur general 

 of the establishment, never losing an op- 

 portunity to edge in a story if possible. 

 News came one day that the post 

 runner had been delayed some hours 

 between Belikeri and Sedasheghur by 

 a tigress which lay down across the 

 path at a spot where it crossed a spur 

 of the hills. The runner tried all he 



