196 THE ADVENTURES OF 



fabulous animal described by the ancients. Its skin shone with 

 a silvery-gray metallic glitter, more particularly on the dorsal 

 ridge. L'Encuerado joined us when it was dying, when, rubbing 

 his hands, he cried — 



" It is a guadii^chevi ; what a splendid supper we shall have ! " 



" You have seen them before, then ? " 



"It is an animal which belongs to my country, Chanito ; it 

 abounds in the plains which slope down to the Pacific Ocean. 

 They are beasts which can live without eating ; they are some- 

 times kept for two months with their feet tied and their mouth 

 sewn up." 



" The mouth sewn up 1 " 



"Yes, Chanito, so as to prevent them getting lean. When I 

 was your age, during the time of Lent, I used to go iguana 

 hunting with my brothers. We sought them in the shallow 

 marshes which are inundated by water during flood-time. There, 

 in hollow trunks of trees, or in holes made in the mud, we found 

 the black iguanas, and pulled them out by their tails." 



"Then they don't bite?" 



" Oh, yes ! they do, and scratch also ; so we took care to 

 catch hold of them by the neck and tie both their feet and their 

 jaws. Sometimes we used to pursue them up the trees; but 

 then, for they don't mind falling twenty or thirty feet, they 

 frequently escaped." 



Sumichrast completed this information by telling the young 

 naturalist that the iguana, which is allied to the lizards, is gener- 

 ally a yard in length ; and that the female lays thirty to forty eggs, 

 which are much esteemed by the native epicures ; also that the 

 green species — iguana rhinolopha — has a flat, thia tail, and swims 

 much better than the black variety, the tail of which, being 

 covered with spines, is not well adapted for progression through 

 water. Thus, meeting with a green iguana, almost always 

 indicates the vicinity of a stream ; but the black species is 

 frequently found away from rivers. 



Lucien wanted at first to carry his game, but he was over- 

 taxed by its weight, and gave it up to I'Encuerado. Another 

 hill was now before us, and the ground became, at every step. 



