264 BLUEFIELDS. 



become clingy, and scarcely a vestige of the elegance 

 and beauty of the animal is left. Unhappily this is 

 the case with a great proportion of the reptiles of 

 foreign countries ; they are known to European na- 

 turalists only by specimens sent home in spirits, or 

 by still more hideous skins : they are described in 

 this condition, which admits, it is true, of a recogni- 

 tion of their technical characters ; but the beauty of 

 their varied hues, and often the grace of their living 

 forms remain as unknown as ever. Hence reptiles, 

 more than any other animals, are indebted to de- 

 scriptive observations and carefully coloured figures 

 made from them, while in the enjoyment of life and 

 health. 



Several specimens of this little animal, one of the 

 forms that connect the true Serpents with the Sau- 

 rian tribes, have occurred to me. The first I took 

 myself, when some men were digging out and re- 

 moving some stones from Bluefields pasture. It was 

 not without difficulty that I secured it, as its agility 

 and power of burrowing were very great. Another 

 was brought me alive, inclosed in a long bottle, 

 otherwise empty ; whence on my removing the cork, 

 it poked up its head, and glided out repeatedly, with 

 perfect ease, and was near escaping several times, it 

 was so slippery and so agile. While crawling, it 

 frequently protruded and retracted quickly the little 

 white forked tongue. I perceived no vestige of eyes, 

 nor did it appear to have the power of vision ; for on 

 any object being presented to the head, no notice 

 was taken until it came into actual contact, when 

 the creature shrank back in sudden alarm. 



