258 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
was passing under its body., I heard a sharp, modulated 
sound, so unusual that it caused me to start, and on 
turning suddenly round, I saw a large green lizard, 
nearly a foot long, which crawled into the grass, and 
I lost all further sight of it. I made some inquiries 
about the existence of such an animal on this island, 
for it struck me that it must have been a species of the 
Gecko, so well known in Egypt as a poisonous lizard ; 
but I could not obtain any satisfactory information 
upon the subject, for no one seemed to be conscious of 
the existence of such an animal. I nevertheless felt 
satisfied in my own mind that I had seen one of those 
venemous reptiles. The Egyptian Gecko is a creature 
of so singular a character that a description from the 
work of an eminent naturalist will not, I apprehend, 
be unwelcome to the reader. 
Of all the oviparous quadrupeds,” says the Count 
de la Cepede, “ this is the first which contains a 
deadly poison. Nature, in this instance, appears to 
act against herself. In a lizard, whose species is but 
too prolific, she exalts a corrosive liquor to such a de- 
gree as to carry corruption and dissolution among all 
animals into which this active humour may penetrate : 
one might say, she prepares in the Gecko only death 
and annihilation. This deadly lizard, which deserves 
all our attention on account of its dangerous proper- 
ties, has some resemblance to the cameleon ; its head, 
almost triangular, is large in comparison with its 
body; the eyes are very large; the tongue flat, co- 
vered with small scales, and the end is rounded. The 
teeth are sharp, and so strong, that, according to Bon- 
tius, they are able to make impressions on the hardest 
