Chap. IX.] 



THE TALLA-GOYA. 



271 



CHAP. IX. 



KEPTILES. 



Lizards. Iguana. — One of the earliest, if not the 

 first remarkable animal to startle a stranger on arriving 

 in Ceylon, whilst wending his way from Point-de- 

 Gralle to Colombo, is a huge lizard of from four to 

 five feet in length, the Talla-goya of the Singhalese, 

 and Iguana 1 of the Europeans. It may be seen at noon- 

 day searching for ants and insects in the middle of the 

 highway and along the fences ; when disturbed, but by 

 no means alarmed, by the approach of man, it moves 

 off to a safe distance ; and, the intrusion being at an 

 end, it returns again to the occupation in which it had 

 been interrupted. Eepulsive as it is in appearance, it 

 is perfectly harmless, and is hunted down by dogs 

 in the maritime provinces, and its delicate flesh, which 

 is believed to be a specific in dysentery, is con- 

 verted into curry, and its skin into shoes. When 

 seized, it has the power of inflicting a smart blow with 

 its tail. The Talla-goya lives in almost any convenient 

 hollow, such as a hole in the ground, or a deserted 

 nest of the termites ; and some small ones, which fre- 

 quented my garden at Colombo, made their retreat in 

 the heart of a decayed tree. 



1 Monitor dracaena, Zmrc. Among iguana, which they regard as a spe- 



the barbarous nostrums of the un- cine for consumption, if plucked 



educated natives, both Singhalese from the living animal and swal- 



and Tamil, is the tongue of the lowed whole. 



