68 LIZARDS. 



swampy maritime plains, but is not nearly so 

 plentiful in Lycia as in the neighbourhood of 

 Smyrna, and, unless carefully sought for, is not 

 likely to be met with. The commonest lizard is 

 the gecko, Stellio vulgaris, a harmless creature of 

 singularly ugly and ferocious aspect. This animal 

 is equally abundant in the uplands, to an eleva- 

 tion of three and four thousand feet, and in the 

 hot plains by the sea. Numbers of them may 

 be seen basking in the sun on the sloping sur- 

 faces of the rough grey rocks, themselves as 

 rough and grey. We found a long-thonged whip 

 a very good instrument for catching geckos and 

 other lizards. A good aim, and sudden switch 

 across their necks, brought them to the ground 

 stunned, yet unharmed, and in excellent condition 

 for specimens. Catching lizards with the hand 

 or net too often detaches the tail, and lets the 

 proprietor escape, unless he remain to gape with 

 astonishment at the gymnastic performances of his 

 severed and independent caudal termination. The 

 gecko is doubtless the much-libelled aoKaXafiioTtig 

 of the ancients ; of which each naturalist of old 

 narrates, that, though harmless in his own country, 

 it was venomous elsewhere. Next to the gecko, 

 a small green lizard, allied to, or identical with, 



