MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 783 



The end was 4| feet below the surface and the length of tunnel was 9 

 feet and the slope averaged 2 to 1. 



The Indians (sweeper caste) who hunt these lizards for food say that 

 the meat is excellent and sweet like chicken, and this must be so as they 

 are purely vegetarians. 



Indians either dig it out of its hole, or if water is obtainable they pour 

 it in till the lizard is forced through suffocation to come out. These two 

 methods are troublesome and laborious and the more scientific operations 

 related below are resorted to by these Indians who have observed and 

 hunted the lizard for centuries. Generally after having had his feed, the 

 lizard gets into his hole and lies just inside near the surface. In the fore- 

 noon the mouth of the hole is open while he is basking in the sun and in 

 the afternoon and evening he lies near the mouth, covered lightly with 

 earth thrown up with his front feet. The hunter if we may so call him, 

 while approaching -does not even allow his shadow to fall on the lizard, but 

 advances stealthily, without shoes, lest the slightest noise should be con- 

 veyed through the medium of the earth, which is a good conductor of 

 sound. For if such occurs, the lizard will disappear at once to the bottom 

 of his hole. He holds in both hands the handle of a mallet and when he 

 has reached the correct striking distance suitable to his length of arm 

 and mallet, he strikes so precisely and with such practised and assured 

 aim that he tjmashes in the tunnel just behind the lizard burying it in 

 pulverized earth. 



Having made it impossible for the lizard to turn and retire backwards 

 into its hole, he feels about in the earth and seizing it with his hand draws 

 it forth. 



To keep it alive till it is required to be eaten, the spine near the junction 

 of the tail with the body is dislocated. When it is necessary to kill the 

 lizard the method adopted is to place the thumb nail at the junction of the 

 neck and spine bone, and by pressing back the head cause it to snap, which 

 causes instantaneous death. 



The mallet, called by the Punjabi Indians " Dharemna," is generally 15 

 inches long with its upper diameter 5 inches and lower one 3 inches. 



The length of the handle has however to be regulated to suit the height 

 of each operator, and this is fixed in each case by making the length, 

 including mallet, from the ground to the waist of the person for whose 

 use it is meant. 



Man is not the only enemy of this harmless creature, for snakes are 

 also found to be very fond of attacking it. When a lizard hears the rustle 

 of a snake it turns round and keeps 3 or 4 inches of its tail outside of the 

 mouth of its hole. Stiffening its tail, it shakes it violently in a lateral 

 direction. The snake attacks but is hurt by the side spines of the tail, 

 which are hard and thorny and rip its mouth. After one or two futile 

 attempts the snake, thinking discretion to be the better part of valour, 

 retires defeated from the conflict. If the snake once gets into the 

 hole before the lizard can get his tail outside he can swallow him with 

 ease, because when once seized inside by the head the lizard can do 

 nothing to help himself. The Indians having observed the method of 

 defence adopted by the lizard have turned their knowledge to good account. 

 In the rainy season when snakes are plentiful they take a small broom made 

 of twigs and, coming gently near the hole of the lizard they make a 

 rustling noise on the ground. The lizard mistaking it for that of a snake 

 turns and protrudes his tail, which is at once seized. It can not, however, 

 be puUed out in this way as it holds on with great strength and 

 tenaciousness. A lizard is known to have had its tail pulled oft' and yet not 

 let go. The Indian, however, does not use force. Having a firm grip of the 



