20O 



ISLAND OF CEYLON. 



Boa. 



Crocodile. 



Lizard. 



The vaft Boa, the Anacandaia of the Ceylonefe, is common 

 here, and is compared for lize to the mail of a fliip*. ^intus 

 Curtius mentions it among the monftrous ferpents which aftonifh- 

 cd the army of Alexander in his march into India. This is com- 

 mon to Africa, and the greater iflands of India, It is the ferpent 

 which Livy, Dec. ii. c. i6. feigns to have given Regulus fo much 

 employ on the banks of the Bagrada. 



To what I have faid of the Cobra Manilla, at page 82, I may 

 here add an inftance of the rapid fatality of its bite : A gentle- 

 man refident in India, fent his fervant on an errand into 

 a clofet ; the man cried out, that fomething had pricked his 

 finger ; before his mailer could reach him, he fell down dead 

 on the floor ! Perhaps the fame with the poifon fnake ? 



Crocodiles are very common in Ceylon, and Ibmetimes are 

 found of the length of eighteen feet. 



The Lacerta Calotes is a fingular lizard, with a ferrated 

 back. 



The Lacerta Iguana is common to both the Indies, and 

 grows to the length of five or fix feet ; its flefli is eaten, and 

 thought to be medicinal. 



The Lacerta Gekko is a fpecies juftly dreaded for the poifon, 

 which exudes even from the ends of its toes, and which infe<5ls, 

 to a degree of fatality, any thing it pafles over ; its urine and 

 faliva are equally dangerous ; its voice, which is acute, like that 

 of a cricket, flings a whole company into confternation. The 

 Indians obtain from it a deadly poifon for their arrows. They 



* See Dodor Shaw's nioft elegant work, The Naturalift's MifccUany, Vol. i. tab. 8. 



tie 



