32 GRASS STATION ROASTING A LIZARD. 2 March,
grass of the most luxuriant color and growth, and which meandered
through extensive meadows of excellent soil. This spot is marked
by the name of Grass Station; and hence upwards, the pools of the
river follow each other so closely that a few showers would soon
render them confluent.
We did not discover any fish in these waters ; but observed a
very pretty and new species of frog * of a green color, and marked
by a longitudinal yellow stripe on its back, and by transverse stripes
of brown on its hind legs. It was further distinguished by its silence,
or at least by croaking very seldom. Whether this silence be only
occasional, or a constant character throughout the year, I could,
as a traveller, have no opportunity of ascertaining.
Immediately on our arrival we made a fire and discharged a
musket as a guide and signal for Speelman and the others, who had
kept at a distance from the main body in hopes of falling in with
game; and who were then out of sight. In half an hour they came
home: they laid the blame of their absence Upon the Bushman who
was with them ; who, on the way, happening to observe a lizard,
pursued it with great eagerness, and having caught it, begged them
to halt while he made a fire. This was soon done, and almost
as soon was the lizard roasted: then cutting open the body, which
he knew contained a number of eggs, he greedily devoured them
in a manner which shewed that they were considered a dainty
morsel. Speelman, who, though a Hottentot, had a more delicate
stomach than this man, declared that, as he stood looking on with
astonishment and disgust, he could hardly restrain himself from
vomiting: indeed the bare recital of the circumstance seemed to revive
all the nausea which he had then felt.
But before we agree with Speelman, and pronounce this Bushman
a monster, let us lay aside all the prejudices of education and
'JRana.fasr.iata, B. Viridis. Parum vociferans. Dorsum fascia longitudinale flavfi
pictum. Femora transverse fusco-fasciata. Corpus parvum breve. Pedes vix palmati.
— Itana: (nec Hylte, nec Bufanis, nec P ipe) est vera species, forma pedum non ob-
stante.
m % m a n a n o m n iv o r o u s a n im a l. 3 3
custom, and plead his cause. Or, if we cannot gain for him an
acquittal of the crime of eating unclean food, let us at least examine
whether his judges be not themselves equally guilty: unless we at
once decide the question by admitting to its utmost extent, the
maxim that, there should be no disputing about tastes.
To all animals, excepting man, Nature seems to have pointed
out some particular class of food as their proper nourishment; and
when, from any morbid or depraved inclination they acquire a habit
of taking other substances, we may with justice accuse them of
having an unnatural taste. But man is left omnivorous: a fact
which his history, and "daily observation, sufficiently prove; even
without the testimony of our own Materia culinaria. Throughout
the whole zoological system, there is scarcely a class from which,
either in one or other country, he does not convert some or many
of its species to the purpose of food, and which in all instances
afford wholesome nourishment. But it is remarkable how little mankind
are agreed in these matters, and how few substances are eaten universally,
or how few there are which are not rejected by one nation, or
another: and so patriotic in this respect, are the inhabitants of various,
and even of polished, countries, that they, or at least, the illiberal part
of them, entertain a species of contempt for those whose habits or necessities
lead them to the use of aliments different from their own ; and
pity their want of judgment in not preferring those things which
they themselves find most agreeable to their own palate. To enumerate
instances in substantiation of these assertions, is unnecessary,
because they are too numerous, and too well known: but the application
of the mode of reasoning derivable from them, seems on
the other hand, to be too little practised. To mitigate poor Speelman’s
abhorrence at the Bushman, I would have told him that there "was a
nation in Europe who sometimes ate frogs, and that many of my own
countrymen were excessively fond of an animal like an enormous toad,
and not only ate its eggs, but its whole body; and that some of the most
luxurious and polished nations of the world ate lizards * also: but
The Iguana of the West Indies and South America; where it is esteemed a great delicacy.