B o a .
C r o c o d i l e .
L i z a r d .
T h e vaft Boa, the Anacandaia o f the Ceylonefe, .is common
here, and is compared for iize to the maft of a ihip *. Quintus
Curtius mentions it among the monftrous ferpents which aftoniih-
ed the army o f Alexander in his march into India. This is common
to Africa, and the greater iilands of India. It is the ferpent
which Livy, Dec. ii. c. 16. feigns to have given Regulus fo much
employ on the banks o f the Bagrada.
T o what I have faid of the Cobra Manilla, at page 82, I may
here add an inftance o f the rapid fatality of its bite: A gentleman
reiident in India, fent his fervant on an errand into
a clofet; the man cried out, .that fomething had pricked his
finger; before his matter conld reach him, he fell down dead
on the floor! Perhaps the fame with the poifon fnake ?
C r o c o d i l e s are very common in Ceylon, and fometimes are
found o f the length o f eighteen feet.
T he Lacerta Calotes is a lingular lizard, with a ferrated
back.
T h e Lacerta Iguana is common to both the Indies, and
grows to the length o f five or fix fee t; its fleih is eaten, and
thought to be medicinal.
T h e Lacerta Gekko is a fpecies juftly dreaded for the poifon,
which exudes even from the ends o f its toes, and which infedts,
to a degree of fatality, any thing it paffes over; its urine and.
faliva are equally dangerous; its voice, which is acute, like that
o f a cricket, flings a whole company into- confternation. The
Indians obtain from it a deadly poifon for their arrows. They
* See Doctor Shaw’ s moff elegant work, The Naturaliil’s Mifcdlany, Vol. i. tab. 8.
tie
tie one o f thefe animals pendent by the tail, and provoke it till
it emits its deadly faliva on the point o f the weapons, which
kill with the flighted: wound. This dreadful reptile leldom attains
a foot in length.
T h e Draco volans*, the animal which bears the dreadful
name o f Dragon, is no more than an innocent little lizard, fur-
nifhed with membranes, extending along the fides in form of
wings, with which it makes ihort flights from tree to tree,
chirruping as it goes. Beneath its chin is a long {lender appendage;
the tail is very long and {lender, but the length of
the whole creature is not more than nine inches; and this is
the only animal that bears really the form feigned by poets and
writers of romance for that of the tremendous dragon.
T h e infedts of Ceylon are o f uncommon fizes : icorpions have
been found there eight inches long, exclufive o f the legs ; Sco-
lopendra.feven inches in length; and o f fpiders, the Aranea
avicularia, Seb. muf. i. tab. 69, with legs four inches long, and
the body covered with thick black hair, a fpecies that makes a
web ftrong enough to entangle the fmaller fpecies o f birds, on
which it feeds.
T h e hare of Ceylon differs in no refpedt from the Englijh hare.
The crefted porcupine, N° 314, is an animal o f this ifland.
A bezoar is fometimes found in its fiomach: the reign of its
pretended Alexipharmic qualities is now over. Tavernier gave
five hundred crowns for one, which he fold to advantage. It is
* $ame, Vol. ii. tab. 51. •'
V ol. I. D d a mere
F l y i n g L i z a r d ,
©
I n s e c t s .
H a r e .
P o r c u p in e .
O