VAEANID^. 115 



slit, in, or nearly in, the middle, between the eye and the tip of the 

 snout. The scales are elliptic and small ; those on the back and 

 on the sides are not imbricate, each of them being surrounded by a 

 small, circular, granular fold. Tail with a low crest, formed by two 

 or four series of strongly keeled scales. Throat with a transverse 

 fold. One verj^ common in India and Ceylon is the V. draciena, 

 which grows to a length of five feet, the tail being longer than the 

 body. These reptiles live in holes, and in midday they steal out of 

 their cells to seek their food, which consists chieily of the smaller 

 reptiles and of insects. In many parts of India, and in Ceylon, the 

 flesh is much eaten by the natives. The late Dr. Kelaart states 

 that he once tried some excellent soup made from, it, which tasted 

 not unlike hare-soup. At Trincomali, he tells us, thej^ are hunted 

 down by Dogs, and sold in the market for sixpence each. This 

 species climbs walls, and holds on so firmly with its strong claws, 

 wherever these can be inserted, that it is actually used by house- 

 breakers in India to help in raising themselves up a wall or 

 building, the man grasping the tail, while the reptile affords a lift 

 by endeavouring to escape from him upwards. It lays twenty or 

 thirty eggs, which in texture and appearance resemble those of many 

 Snakes, being similarly agglutinated together by a viscid mucus. 

 Sir J. E. Tennent remarks that " one of the earliest, if not the 

 first, remarkable animal to startle a stranger on arriving in Ceylon, 

 whilst wending his way from Point de Galle to Colombo, is this 

 large Lizard, which may be seen at noonday searching for Ants 

 and other insects in the midst of the highway and along the 

 fences. When disturbed, but by no means alarmed, by the 

 approach of Man, it moves off to a safe distance ; and the intrusion 

 being at an end, it returns again to the occupation in which it had 

 been interrupted. It lives in any convenient hollow, such as a 

 hole in the ground, or the deserted nests of the Termites ; and 

 some small ones, which frequented my garden at Colombo, made 

 their retreat in the heart of a decayed tree." 



Of another species, V.Jimescens, which inhabits Lower Bengal, 

 and to the eastward in Burmah, &c., Mr. Theobald remarks that 

 "large specimens are not often procurable by Earopeans, as they 

 are much sought after by both Burmese and Karens as choice 

 articles of food. They are chieflv hunted with Dogs, whose scent 



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