Reptiles, 151 



without fortifying his rash act with any proof whatever. Let rae here 

 inform this dealer in unsound Zoology, that my veracity is the only 

 article upon which I feel that I have a positive right to plume myself, 

 in the two small volumes which I have presented to the world. And 

 now for the cayman ; first, apologizing to the reader for this disagree- 

 able though necessary prologue. 



Those who have had no opportunity of examining the crocodile and 

 cayman in the regions where they are found, may form a tolerably 

 correct notion of them (making a due allowance for size) by an in- 

 spection of the little lizard which inhabits the warmer parts of Europe. 

 And should they not have it in their power to travel out of England, 

 they may still acquire a competent idea of these animals, by looking 

 at the newt, which is common in most of our gardens : for, notwith- 

 standing the frivolous objections which Swainson has offered to 

 the contrary, I consider these monsters of tropical climates, neither 

 more nor less than lizards of an extraordinary size, and in this the 

 Spaniards agree with me ; — for on their first arrival in the New World, 

 seeing that the cayman was an over-grown lizard, both in form and 

 habits, they called it " una lagarta," which is the Spanish name for a 

 lizard. 



The British, in course of time, having seized on the settlements 

 formed by the Spaniards, soon became acquainted with the cayman, 

 and on hearing the Spaniards exclaim " una lagarta " when this ani- 

 mal made its appearance, they, in their turn, called it an alligator ; 

 for so the two Spanish words, " una lagarta," sounded in the English 

 ear. 1 got this information many years ago, from a periodical of 

 which I remember not the name. 



The little lizard which darts at a fly on the sunny banks along the 

 roads of southern Europe, gives the spectator an excellent idea of the 

 cayman in the act of taking its prey in the tropics ; and whilst he 

 views the pretty green creature turning sharply and quickly on the 

 ground before him, he may see in imagination, the movements of the 

 cayman on the banks of the Essequibo, after the dry season has set in. 



T once fell in with a fry of young caymans on dry land near the ri- 

 ver Essequibo. They were about a foot in length, and they twisted 

 and turned in all directions with the agility of rabbits. One of them 

 got entangled in the weeds. It fought fiercely before we succeeded 

 in capturing it, and Daddy Quashi had it for his supper. 



Crocodile is the eastern name, and cayman or alligator the western 

 name for this huge lizard. 



It is now high time to reject the many fabulous accounts of the cro- 



