Chap. XXV.—B. P.] 
IGUANA. 
425 
to the spot, more from impulse than in the hope of 
ever seeing it again (for the Creoles do not dive after 
the iguana and capture it under water, as the Indians 
delight in doing), when, to the surprise of all of us, 
it rose for air close to the canoe. It was instantly 
seized behind the head by a powerful black hand, and 
quickly dragged on board, where its legs were soon 
secured across its back, and it was rendered powerless 
beyond snapping viciously with its horrid jaws, lined 
with small but very sharp, triangular teeth, like those 
of an Ashantee. It also kept inflating the goitre-like 
appendage under the throat, expressive of rage and 
anger. It turned out to be a very large one, about 
four feet long; and, as one of the Creoles expressed 
it, “ He fine hen, sar; plenty eggs, sar.” Ugly as 
the reptile looked, I can vouch for its being delicious 
food, and its yellowish-coloured eggs, which, by the 
bye, were all yolk, very rich and delicate. 
The iguana is covered with dirty-looking little 
scales about the size of those of a salmon, and with 
its large crest extending nearly the whole way down 
its back, and an appendage under its throat, the former 
bristling up and the latter inflated by anger, it is cer¬ 
tainly as repulsive to look at as any creature breath¬ 
ing ’ but then it is very justly looked upon as a valu¬ 
able article of food, although, in certain diseases, said 
to be most hurtful to the patient. The iguana is com¬ 
mon on the banks of rivers throughout Central Ame¬ 
rica, and sometimes attains a length of between five 
and six feet ; it lives chiefly on the trees, subsisting 
on fruit and leaves, although the Creoles assert that it 
