>770; A p r il. V-^YXj A; i V ;0 Y A Q ; E | 0T o T H e I have already, qt page 308 of this volume, made mention of a lizard as black as jet, which the Hottentots dread very much, as being highly venomous. Not having- room for them within the limits which I have prefcribed to myfelf in this; volume, I am obliged tp poftpone the defcription o f the African lizards, as well as feveral other matters, for the prefent, with an intention to give them to the public at; fome future period, in a feparate treatife, or by fome. other opportunity, The following lizard, however, which is much the largeft in the whole colony, and to which I fhall give the name of /acería Capefijts, deferves to be briefly mentioned, were it only on account of the haydinqfs of itsf. nature, and the difficulty with which I found it to be. deprived of life, it is true, it bears fome diftant refemblance to that of Seba, from Ceylon, Tom. I. Tab. 94. Fig. I. in the rings or girdles with which it is encircled ; but it has a much greater number of them, not, to fpeak of the remarkable diffimilarity there is, between them in point of colour, which may be colledted from the following character of that from the Cape. • “ Lacerta Capenfis, cauda comprefla fupra carinata, Zonis 16, feu i,8p albis tptidemque nigris alternantibus annulata, apiee nigra, Corpore fubfquamofo, fuperne ex nigro viridique fufco, fubtus albido, fafciis x6— 18, nigris anomalis notato. Harum, 8 cir^ter juguli, 9 autem Pedtoris Abdominifque regiones pccupant.” . One o f this fpecies, pf the ipiddle fize, which, together with its two young ones, I brought home with me from Agter Bruntjes-hoogtey w'as about two feet long in the body, and n i l and three in the tail;;-having caught her by the neck, fo that flie could not bite me, and finding that it required fome. ftrength to hold her fail, I got a large worited needle, and gave her feveral pundtures with it, not only in the heart, but in every part of the cranium which was in con- tadl with the brain. This, however, was fo far from; anfwering my purpofe, which was to kill her in the moil fpeedy and leaft painful manner, without mangling or mutilating her, that fhe feemed ftill to have life enough: left to be able to run away. After this my hoft undertook to put an end to her, and after having given her feveral hard fqueezes about the cheft, and tied her feet together, hung her up by the neck in a noofe, which he drew as. clofe as he poffibly. could. From this fituation ihe was; found in the ipace of 48 hours to have extricated herfelf, though ihe ftill remained near the farm, appearing at the. fame time to be almoft entirely exhaufted. Upon this, we tied her feet clofe behind her, fo that with her long and iharp claws, of which fire had five upon each foot, ihe could not damage the ferpents and other animals which I kept in a calk of brandy, and among which I put her with my own, hands, holding her a long time under the furface o f the: liquor ; yet ihe was fo far from being fuffocated immediately by the ftrength of the liquor, that ihe flounced about a good deal in i t ; and even a quarter of an hour afterwards, convinced us by her motions that ihe had ftill fome life remaining in her. This fpecies of lizard I found/ to be amphibious, living in water as well as on land, and likewife that it grew to a ftill greater fize ; confequently it appears to be an extremely long-lived animal, and, as well. on 177& April.- V Y V K I 111 Í
27f 72-2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above