236 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



[ Varamis'] dracaena) and he once ate some excellent soup 

 made from a guana, which tasted like hare. At Trin- 

 «omalee they used to be hunted down by dogs, and sold 

 in the market. Another monitor is also eaten in the 

 East, Hydrosaurus sahator. The lowest castes of Hindoos 

 •capture these lizards by digging them out of their bur- 

 rows on the banks of rivers for the sake of their flesh, 

 which is greatly relished by these people. Some indivi- 

 duals attain to nearly seven feet in length.* 



The meat of the Amblyrhynciis sulcristatus, Mr. Darwin 

 tells us, when cooked is white, and by those whose 

 :stomachs rise above all prejudices it is relished as very 

 good food. Humboldt has remarked that in inter- 

 tropical South America all lizards which inhabit dry 

 regions are estimated delicacies for the table. The eggs 

 of these animals, which are numerous, large and oval, 

 are esteemed by the inhabitants of the Gallapagos islands 

 as food. 



Many of the lizard race, as the Iguana delicatissima 

 have long held and still maintain a high rank as articles 

 of luxury for the table ; and the flesh and eggs of the 

 common Teguixin, a large species, of Brazil and other 

 parts of South America, are eaten. 



The Salempenta (Teius Tegtcexin, Linn.) of South 

 America, is a large species of lizard. Like the iguana, it 

 affords very delicious food, which is thought to resemble 

 the flesh of a very young chicken. New comers are at 

 first averse to eating a lizard of any description, but they 

 very soon find out their mistake, and would even prefer 

 an iguana or salampenta cutlet to a chicken.-f 



The ugly looking large tree lizard called the Iguana, 

 which is like an alligator in miniature, is certairdy not 

 very attractive in appearance, and yet by most persons 

 in tropical countries its flesh is highly esteemed, being 

 reckoned as delicate as chicken, and but little inferior to 

 turtle in flavour. The eggs, which are somewhat smaller 



* Cassell's "Natural History." 



■f Waterton's " Wanderings in South America." 



