518 THE ANACONDA. 



hands/' is believed to be a gecko, as a species of this creature 

 is very common in the East. The popular prejudice against 

 them causes the death of many a poor gecko, who, had he been 

 allowed to live, would have rendered good service to his per- 

 secutors. Those in the houses are of small size ; but others, 

 existing in the forest, and living in the crevices of the trees, 

 are of considerable magnitude. Their tails are easily struck 

 off the loss being, however, as is the case with other lizards, 

 repaired by a new growth, though less perfect than the original 

 member. 



THE ANACONDA. 



With its ill-favoured head protruding above the surface of 

 the water near the banks of slow-flowing rivers, pools, and 

 swamps, the vast anaconda lies in wait for its prey. The 

 fish swimming along in its neighbourhood, the birds which, 

 rising from the reeds, skim by overhead, the animals which 

 come to the banks to drink, even man himself, have cause to 

 dread a blow from the snout, and the powerful coils of the 

 huge water-serpent. Its appearance is most hideous, being 

 very broad in the middle, and tapering abruptly at both 

 ends. Fish, and the smaller animals, it swallows whole ; but 

 a larger animal it seizes by the nose with its powerful jaws, 

 and surrounds with the mighty coils of its huge body, pressing 

 one coil upon another till it crushes its prey to death. 



Though generally found from twenty to thirty feet in 

 length, it is said to attain a length of forty feet ; and one 

 of that size is fully capable of swallowing an ox or horse, 

 there being many instances of its having been done. Its voracity 

 is prodigious. The French naturalist Firmin found in the 

 stomach of an anaconda a large sloth, an iguana four feet long, 

 and a good-sized ant-bear ; all three in the same state almost 



