204 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



by a gritting sound on the granite, and by the 

 light of my lire I discovered a handsome neo- 

 toma beside me, dragging away my ice-hatchet, 

 pulling with might and main by a buckskin 

 string on the handle. I threw bits of bark at 

 him and made a noise to frighten him, but he 

 stood scolding and chattering back at me, his fine 

 eyes shining with an air of injured innocence. 



A great variety of lizards enliven the warm 

 portions of the Park. Some of them are more 

 than a foot in length, others but little larger 

 than grasshoppers. A few are snaky and re- 

 pulsive at first sight, but most of the species are 

 handsome and attractive, and bear acquaintance 

 well; we like them better the farther we see into 

 their charming lives. Small fellow mortals, gen- 

 tle and guileless, they are easily tamed, and have 

 beautiful eyes, expressing the clearest innocence, 

 so that, in spite of prejudices brought from cool, 

 lizardless countries, one must soon learn to like 

 them. Even the horned toad of the plains and 

 foothills, called horrid, is mild and gentle, with 

 charming eyes, and so are the snakelike species 

 found in the underbrush of the lower forests. 

 These glide in curves with all the ease and grace 

 of snakes, while their small, undeveloped limbs 

 drag for the most part as useless appendages. 

 One specimen that I measured was fourteen 

 inches long, and as far as I saw it made no use 

 whatever of its diminutive limbs. 



