26 0 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
apples.* The tail is distinguished by several white 
rings. Its teeth are so sharp as to make an im- 
pression even on steel. Each of its four legs has 
crooked claws., armed at the ends with nails. Its 
gait is very slow ; but wherever it fastens it is not 
easily removed. It dwells commonly upon rotten 
trees, or among the ruins of old houses and churches. 
It oftentimes settles near the bedsteads, which makes 
the Moors sometimes pull down their huts. Its con- 
stant cry is gekko ; but before it begins, it makes a 
kind of hissing noise. The sting t of this creature is 
so venemous that the wound proves mortal, unless 
it be immediately burnt with a red-hot iron or cut off. 
The blood is of a palish colour, resembling poison 
itself. 
The Javanese used to dip their arrows into the 
blood of this creature ; and those who deal in poison 
among them, — an art much esteemed in Java by both 
sexes, — hang it up, with a string tied to the tail, on 
the ceiling ; by which means, it being exasperated to 
the highest pitch, sends forth a yellow liquor out of its 
mouth, which they gather in small pots set under- 
neath, and afterwards coagulate into a body in the sun. 
This they continue for several months together, by • 
giving daily food to the creature. It is unquestion- 
ably the strongest poison in the world. The urine of 
this animal is of so corrosive a quality, that it not 
only raises blisters wherever it touches the skin, but 
turns the flesh black and causes a gangrene.” J The 
* Eye-balls. t It has no sting, but bites. 
t A rather singular circumstance occurred whilst I was upon 
a journey from Bombay to Poonah. Having slept under a tent at 
