240 LIZARDS AND TORTOISES. 



which Schlegel emphatically calls the "colour of the 

 desert." I have seen a variety of this Agama with the 

 skin perfectly smooth, and even the tail almost entirely 

 devoid of spines. A friend succeeded in killing a very 

 large specimen of the Naja nivea, the bite of which is 

 considered very deadly by the inhabitants of the Cape ; 

 Tortoises (I believe Testuda geometrica and T. angulatd] 

 may be procured, at certain seasons, in any numbers, by 

 taking the trouble to climb the mountains. I have fre- 

 quently picked them up in my walks, and our Surgeon, 

 Dr. Mahon, on the roadside from Simon's Town to Cape 

 Town, made captive a very large flat-backed Water- 

 Tortoise (Emys galeatd) which was fishing in a pool. It 

 is rather remarkable that this same Tortoise is the only 

 one, out of several dozens of Tortoises brought from the 

 Cape, now alive in England, although from the date of 

 his capture to the present, it has been kept almost 

 entirely from the water. 



Notwithstanding the apparently revolting smell and 

 disgusting nature of Cockroaches, many animals, besides 

 the little Otocyon Lalandii, are passionately fond of them. 

 Several Graculi religiosi on board our ship were in the 

 habit of hopping about the lower deck, greedily pur- 

 suing and devouring them. A small monkey took, like- 

 wise, great delight in seizing and masticating them, with 

 much gusto ; to say nothing of our peacocks, which were 

 passionately addicted to their consumption. In England, 

 as is well known, the Hedge-hog is kept for the purpose 

 of thinning their numbers. 



The Sandmole (Bathyergus maritimus) causes great 

 havock in the gardens, in the vicinity of Simon's Town, 



