BARRANQUILLA. 



45 



back at five o'clock. While walking along the track about a mile 

 north of the town, we saw an alligator some four feet in length, 

 which had been run over and killed by the train. About two miles 

 down, we left the track, and turned into some scrubby, thorny 

 woods to our left. Here Cabell shot a parrakeet of the same kind 

 as the one that he had killed the day before, and a large jiigeon, 

 larofer than our dove, but of the same uniform color throuofhoiit.. 

 The tips of its tail-feathers were whitish ; but beyond this it had 

 no distinctive markings. I did not skin this bird, as it was in poor 

 plumage ; and I did not get another specimen, so cannot identify it. 



From here, we turned back to the right, recrossed the track, and 

 went over to the river, where we found a great abundance of water- 

 birds, the white-winged jaganas, purple gallinules {lonornis mar- 

 tinica), herons, ducks, etc. There was a skirt of small trees along 

 the river, with here and there clumps of mangroves. Beyond the 

 trees were reedy marshes extending out for perhaps half a mile. I 

 had just reached the bank, and was walking along slowly, when a 

 horrible-looking creature sprang up from under my feet and rushed 

 off at a tremendous rate, stopping to look back at me when it had 

 gone about thirty yards. I fired, and killed it. It was a lizard, 

 over two feet in length, with very long and wide-spreading toes. 

 It was brown, with darker markings on its sides, a conspicuous fin- 

 like crest along its back and tail, and a light gray liberty-cap-look- 

 ing growth at the back of its head. This was the basilisk (Basilis- 

 cus americcnms). Later we saw quantities of them. They run 

 with extraordinary rapidity, and stand higher from the ground 

 when running than any lizard that I have seen. So rapid is the 

 motion of their feet that they can actually run over the surface of 

 water. This I saw repeatedly. I know of no other animal that 

 can do this, except that I have seen frogs keep on the surface for a 

 succession of rapid jumps ; but frogs are web-footed, and these 

 lizards are not. I saw several cross pools ten feet in Avidth and 

 keep on the surface for the whole distance. They also climb well. 

 We saw them in the mangroves on branches overhanging the water. 



