CRESTED SNAKE. 
377 
remarkable for the smoothness of their contour, 
many such are familiar to us in the Saurian Order. 
The inflatable hood on the occiput of Basiliscus^ the 
serrated crest of Iguana, Cyclura, and Anolis, might 
present analogies to the coronal appendage of this 
mountain reptile of the Antilles ; while the dewlap of 
Iguana and Draco, the protrusile bright-hued goitre 
of Anolis, Dactyloa, and their allies, and especially 
the cheek-frills of Chlamydosaurus, would aflbrd some 
precedent for the lateral “ wattles” with which it 
is said to be furnished. 
So great was my curiosity to obtain all the inform- 
ation possible about this creature, that, some time 
before I left the island, I published in one of the 
periodicals an 'appeal to the well-wishers of science, 
intimating my desire to possess this interesting rep- 
tile in particular. I heard, however, nothing further 
on the subject at that time. 
But since my return to England, my kind scien- 
tiflc correspondent, Mr. Hill, again alludes to this 
matter in the following words : — ‘‘ Mr. Jasper Car- 
gill informs me, that when visiting Skibo in St. 
George’s, an estate of his father’s, in descending the 
mountain-road, his attention was drawn to a snake 
of a dark hue, that erected itself from amid some 
fragments of limestone-rock that lay about. It was 
about four feet long, and unusually ihich-bodied. 
His surprise was greatly increased on perceiving that 
it was crested, and that from the side of the cheeks 
depended some red-coloured flaps, like gills or wat- 
tles. After gazing at him intently some time, with 
its head well erect, it drew itself in, and disappeared 
