SNAKES AND VIPERS. 85 



lizard found in houses, running along the walls 

 and ceilings in search of flies ; the structure of their 

 feet enabling them to do this by creating a vacuum 

 beneath the foot : this is proved by their not being 

 able to sustain themselves on cloth, which often forms 

 the ceilings of houses in Borneo. They sometimes 

 fall, and their tails get broken off, but, being possessed 

 of the power of reproduction, the loss is soon supplied 

 a new tail growing in its place. 



The land-tortoises are of at least two species, one 

 of which attains considerable size : I once had one in 

 my possession which was nearly two feet in length. 

 They are found in the thick and damp woods : their 

 food is vegetable ; their eggs are long and linear, 

 rounded at the ends, hard, like that of the alligator, 

 not with a soft shell, as that of the turtle. 



All the marshes abound with frogs, which croak 

 their dismal notes during the whole night ; they are 

 fed upon by the snakes, which are in great numbers 

 in the same situations. Many of the snakes of Borneo 

 are unknown to European naturalists. The crested 

 cobra of India is found here, and called by the 

 natives ' ular tadong ' but I think that tadong is a 

 generic name, applied to many of the venomous ones, 

 and the beautiful but deadly ' tadong matahari/ or 

 the sun-snake (Tortrix), and the e tadong chinchin mas/ 

 or golden -ringed viper (Dipsas dendrophila), deriving 

 its name from the beautiful golden rings with which its 

 black body is adorned : this kind is very common in 

 mangrove swamps, ascending the trees to sleep at 

 high water, and descending to search for its prey 



