224 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Reptiles, 



had induced him to affect a field to which he had no right in the 

 presence of his seniors. 



The Chinese colonists show a respect for these animals^ and 

 will not suffer them to be molested on the walls of their houses. 

 They relate a legend as the cause of this veneration. Many- 

 years since, some rebels had taken possession of the Fungshan 

 Hien (the southernmost district of the Chinese territory in For- 

 mosa), and were threatening the capital itself, when the emperor 

 sent across from China a celebrated general to quell the insur- 

 gents. This valiant warrior had made several onslaughts on the 

 enemy, which only resulted in defeat and the decimation of his 

 army. He sat one evening desponding gloomily, when suddenly 

 his attention was drawn to something chuckling over his head. 

 He looked up and spied a Gecko, which, to his astonishment, 

 spoke out, and asked him the cause of his despondency. The 

 warrior, thinking that perhaps some good spirit was embodied 

 in the little creature, unbosomed his grief to it. The lizard 

 replied that by means of certain secretions in its body it could 

 speedily poison the supplies of the enemy's troops, and thus 

 reduce their strength to a shadow, and that the general could 

 proceed and make short work of them. The bi'ave warrior was 

 delighted at the project, and promised, should the plot succeed, 

 that he would recommend the lizard to the emperor for distinc- 

 tion. The lizard was as good as his word, and next morning 

 large numbers of his tribe were observed making their way to 

 the Fungshan Hien ; and in a iew days rumour reached the 

 anxious general that the enemy were dying off by scores, and 

 that their strength was fast reducing to a shadow. Whereupon 

 he gathered his troops together, and soon succeeded in cutting 

 to pieces the miserable remnant of the once invincible rebel 

 band. The warrior returned elate from his victory. The lizard 

 was at his usual spot on the wall, and chuckled louder than ever 

 at the success of his plans, claiming for himself and four-footed 

 companions the promised distinction. The general was true to 

 his word, and memorialized the emperor on the subject, who 

 graciously ordained that henceforth the tribe of Formosan Geckos 

 should receive the rank oi generals, and be respected by all classes 

 of men. The Geckos, on hearing the good news announced, 

 assembled and chuckled in concert ; and since then, every house 

 possesses its small family of miniature generals, who manoeuvre 

 about the walls and destroy the mosquitoes and other insect 

 pests that plague the colonists, as successfully as their forefathers 

 did the rebels; and when the thunder roars and the lightning 

 flashes, they think of the valiant deeds of their ancestors, and, 

 in the true spirit of generals, chuckle louder than usual at what 

 reminds them of the din of battle. 



