wound. They march in large armies, and exact heavy contribu- 
tions, particularly on sugar and preserves; though few eatables 
come amiss, and in a few hours they commit terrible depredations. 
But the termites, or white ants, make still greater havoc; they 
gnaw through the thickest planks, demolish beams and rafters, and 
entirely destroy books, papers, and bales of goods; which they 
perforate in a thousand places. These, at a certain season, quit 
their reptile state, and become a winged insect. 
Lizards abound in the houses, fields, and gardens; they are a 
harmless race, differing in size, form, and colour; and some, like 
the chamelion, assume different hues. The alligator, which in all 
respects resembles the Egyptian crocodile, is a terrible animal, 
seldom seen on Bombay; but they are found in most of the rivers 
on the continent, from five to twenty feet in length. The guana, 
a land animal of the lacerta tribe, is the next in size, though sel- 
dom exceeding four feet; its colour is a dirty green, and the skin 
covered with scales ; some of the natives eat the flesh, and consi- 
der it a dainty; others use it in medicine as a great restorative. 
India, like most other countries between the tropics, is infested by 
serpents, scorpions, centipedes, and noxious reptiles of various 
kinds. 
Among the serpents of India the cobra-minelle is the smallest, 
and most dangerous; the bite occasions a speedy and painful 
death. They are of a brown colour, speckled with black and 
white, though at a distance not easily distinguished from the 
ground on which they move; and happy would it be if they con- 
fined themselves to it; but they enter the houses, and creep upon 
the beds and chairs; I once found four, and at another time five, 
