48 



THE CAYMAN. 



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 overgrown 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 animal made its appearance, they, in 

 their turn, called it an alligator ; for so the 

 two Spanish words, " una lagarta," sounded in 

 the English ear. I 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 ima- 



