REPTILES WAITB. 179 



The natives of Futuna likewise made the slaughter of a turtle 

 an occasion of great ceremony.* By the people of llotuma it 

 was held in like regard, f 



No sea snakes were heard of, and were apparently unknown to 

 the islanders. The terrestrial Reptilian fauna is represented by 

 the four Lacertilians below mentioned, which were the only 

 members of the order included in the collection. 



Mr. Hedley informs me that specimens of the geckos could at 

 any time be secured by pulling back the pinnse of young palms; 

 the little creature was snugly ensconced between the base of the 

 leaves, expanded to embrace the stem and the trunk. A search 

 of half-a-dozen palms rarely failed to reveal one or more specimens. 



The skinks afforded sport to the children, who fished for them 

 with hook and thread among the broken undergrowth of the 

 island : they were exceedingly numerous and could be found 

 almost everywhere. 



Mr. C. M. Woodford, in the course of some interesting remarks 

 upon the transference, by human agency, of these reptiles from 

 island to island, observes} : " It is the rule rather than the 

 exception for one or more lizards to be unwilling passengers when 

 one of the large native canoes is at any time put into the water. 

 On one voyage from the Solomons to Australia I remember that 

 a lizard frequented the foretop for several days; and on two 

 occasions when bringing orchids to Sydney from the Solomons, I 

 have, on opening the case, found a living gecko among the plants. 

 They are easily brought on board ship among the firewood, and 

 their presence, therefore, even upon remote islands, supposing that 

 they are occasionally visited by ships, presents little difficulty." 



FAMILY GECKONID^. 



GYMNODACTYLUS, Spix. 

 GYMNODACTYLUS PELAGICUS, Girard. 



Gymnodactylus pelagicus, Girard, sp., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 

 1857, p. 197; Gunther, Voy. "Cura9oa," p. 404, pi. xxiv., 

 fig. a. 



This species, so widely distributed in the islands of the Pacific, 

 is represented by specimens which differ slightly from the descrip- 

 tions of the species. The dorsal tubercles are not so closely set 

 as shown in Giinther's figure, but are separated by two or three 



* Smith Journ. Polyn. Soc., i., 1892, p. 41. 



t Allardyce, G. W. L. Proc. and Trans. R. Geogr. Soc. Austr., Qd., 

 i., 1886, p. 142. 



J Woodford Geogr. Journ., vi., 1895, p. 349. 



