IGUANAS. II? 



Darwin, " till half of its body was buried ; I then walked up and 

 pulled it by the tail; at this it was greatly astonished, and soon 

 shuffled up to see what was the matter • and then stared me in the 

 face, as much as to say, ' What made you pull my tail ? ' They feed 

 by day, and do not wander far from their burrows ; and if frightened, 

 they rush to them with a most awkward gait. Except when running 

 down-hill, they cannot move very fast ; which appears chiefly owing 

 to the lateral position of their legs. They are not at all timorous ; 

 when attentively watching any one they curl up their tails, and, 

 raising themselves on their front legs, nod their head vertically, with 

 a quick movement, and try to look very fierce, but in reality they 

 are not at all so ; if one just stamps the ground, down go their tails, 

 and off they shuffle as quickly as they can. I have several times 

 observed small fly-eating Lizards, when watching anything, nod 

 their heads in precisely the same manner ; but I do not at all know 

 for what purpose. If the Amblyrhynchns is held, and plagued with 

 a stick, it will bite it very severely ; but I caught many by the tail, 

 and they never tried to bite me. If two are placed on the ground, 

 and held together, they will fight and bite each other till blood is 

 drawn. Those individuals (and they are the greater number) which 

 inhabit the lower country, can scarcely taste a drop of water 

 throughout the year but they consume much of the succulent 

 cactus, the branches which are occasionally broken off by the 

 wind. I have sometimes thrown a piece to two or three, when 

 together ; and it was amusing enough to see each trying to seize and 

 carry it away in its mouth, like so many hungry dogs with a bone. 

 They eat very deliberately, but do not chew their food. The little 

 birds are aware how harmless these creatures are : I have seen one 

 of the thick-billed finches (peculiar to the Gallapagos) picking at one 

 end of a piece of cactus — which is in request among all the animals 

 of the lower region — whilst a lizard was eating at the other; and 

 afterwards the little bird, with the utmost indifference, hopped on the 

 back of the reptile. The stomachs of several that I opened were full 

 of vegetable fibres and leaves of different trees, especially of a species 

 of Acacia. In the upper region they live chiefly on the acid and 

 astringent berries of the Guayavita, under which trees I have seen 

 these lizards and the huge tortoises feeding together. To obtain 

 the acacia leaves, they crawl up the low, stunted trees ; and it is not 

 uncommon to see one, or a pair, quietly browsing whilst seated on a 

 branch several feet from the ground. 



" The meat of these animals, when cooked, is white; and by those 

 whose stomachs rise above all prejudices, it is relished as very good 



