240 ANIMAL FOOD EESOUECES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



Sea snakes {SydrophidcB) are eaten by the inhabitants 

 of some of the countries on whose shores they are found. 



The Indians of Western Nevada eat snakes of diflferent 

 kinds. The reptile is, while yet alive, impaled length- 

 wise on a stick, and held writhing over the fire until 

 broiled.* 



Browne in his "History of Jamaica" tells us (p. 461) 

 that " many of the negroes eat the yellow snakes, and 

 look upon them as a rich and delicious food ; but they 

 generally preserve the fat, which is considered as a 

 good resolutive, and highly recommended for such 

 purposes." 



In an account of Jamaica, published in 1683, it is- 

 related that " the snakes were eaten by the Indians as 

 regularly as the guanas by the Spaniards. The latter 

 is but small, and of the shape of an alligator ; the 

 flesh is sweet and tender." Many lizards are sought, 

 for on trees, and in their holes in the sand by the- 

 borders of moors. 



McFarlane in his "Southern Italy" says: — "Although, 

 no Homan or Neapolitan peasant will eat of a tam& 

 goose, I have seen great black snakes fried and eaten 

 both in Calabria and Sicily to this day. Celsus recom- 

 mends vipers as wholesome and luscious ; in China they 

 are salted and pickled. The lizards of the American 

 Continent are a most delicate dish, and not long since 

 the leguana of the Antilles was brought in large num- 

 bers to South Carolina. At home they are raised and 

 fattened upon chicory and rice. Snakes also find a 

 ready market in Eastern countries. The giant snake of 

 Java, well nigh ten feet long and of the thickness of a 

 man's arm, infests the pepper plantations, and its venom 

 is fatal ; still it is caught and eaten with relish. The 

 huge boa-constrictor is said to furnish an exceedingly 

 fat meat, and the negroes of its native country prefer it 

 to the daintiest food of the white man. The anaconda, 

 of Brazil supplies the table of the poor, though the 



* S. Powers, in " Smithsonian Report for 1876," p. 453. 



