TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCHUS. 161 



them full of vegetable fibres and leaves of differ- 

 ent trees, especially of an acacia. In the upper 

 region they live chiefly on the acid and astringent 

 berries of the guayavita, under which trees I have 

 seen these lizards and the huge tortoises feeding 

 together. To obtain the acacia-leaves' they crawl 

 up the low, stunted trees, and it is not uncommon 

 to see a pair quietly browsing whilst seated on a 

 branch several feet above the ground. These liz- 

 ards, when cooked, yield a white meat, which is 

 liked by those whose stomachs soar above all prej- 

 udices. Humboldt has remarked, that in intertrop- 

 ical South America, all lizards which inhabit dry 

 regions are esteemed delicacies for the table. The 

 inhabitants state that those which inhabit the upper 

 damp parts drink water, but that the others do not, 

 like the tortoises, travel up for it from the lower 

 sterile country. At the time of our visit the fe- 

 males had within their bodies numerous large, 

 elongated eggs, which they lay in their burrows : 

 the inhabitants seek them for food. 



These two species of Amblyrhynchus agree, as I 

 have already stated, in their general structure, and 

 in many of their habits. Neither have that rapid 

 movement so characteristic of the genera Lacerta 

 and Iguana. They are both herbivorous, although 

 the kind of vegetation on which they feed is so very 

 different. Mr. Bell has given the name to the ge- 

 nus from the shortness of the snout ; indeed, the 

 form of the mouth may almost be compared to that 

 of the tortoise : one is led to suppose that this is an 

 adaptation to their herbivorous appetites. It is very 

 interesting thus to find a well-characterized genus, 

 having its marine and terrestrial species belonging 

 to so confined a portion of the world. The aquatic 

 species is by far the most remarkable, because it is 

 the only existing lizard which lives on marine vege- 

 IL 11 



