THE GECKO 69 



and the Bis-cobra are the same. Some say they 

 are, and that they are more deadly than the cobra. 

 They would have some difficulty in being that, 

 however. I very much wanted to see one when 

 we were at Delhi once; the Burra Sahib and 

 myself. We were staying in the Hotel that is built 

 on the old wall, and we were the only visitors the 

 first day. After dinner we sat in the drawing-room 

 with one small lamp on a table, in the middle of 

 the room. This only threw a halo of light just 

 round us, leaving shadows everywhere else. It 

 was very quiet, and suddenly as I sat writing, a 

 sound came as of scratching in the ceiling ; then 

 something fell on to the floor, narrowly missing the 

 top of the sleeping master's head. Exclamations 

 brought another lamp and the landlord, and search 

 produced two grey lizards lying perfectly flat on 

 the floor. They recovered though, and were off in 

 an instant, and the landlord smilingly assured 

 me they were quite harmless, which I knew. This 

 caused me to begin questioning him as to what 

 other kinds of creatures he might be likely to 

 possess ; living near ruined bricks and mortar as 

 he did. 



