T e s t u d o
S q u a m a t a .
B o a s ,
A m p h i s b q e n a .
A f e w lingular reptiles merit attention: the "fejludo Squamata,
Bontii, 82. Gmel.Lin. 1040, the fcaly tortoife, or the Taunab
o f the Javanefe, and Lary o f the Cbinefe, is a fpecies little known;
excepting in the great breadth of the body, it has much refem-
blance to the Manis; the tail is nearly the length o f the. body,
and covered with fcales like thofe on that animal; the head is
fmall, refembling that o f a fnake; the belly foft, and eafily
wounded; it is called Taunah, or the digger, becaufe it forms
large burrows in the banks o f rivers, where it conceals itfe lf; it
feeds on fmall filhesj is amphibious, like the fea tortoife; a
iluggiih animal, and, like the reft o f its kind, flow o f pace. The
Cbinefe phyficians make ufe o f the fcales in feveral difeafes.
T h e Boas f e r p e n t h a s b e e n t a k e n in Java o f t h e l e n g t h o f
t h i r t y - f i x f e e t . I f h a l l g i v e a f u l l a c c o u n t o f t h e m a n n e r s o f th is
m o n f t e r o f it s t r ib e .
T h e Ampbijbcena i s faid b y Bontius to be a moft fatal fpecies.
The Javanefe ftyle it Oular Matti, or the worm o f death. The
fpecies engraven in Bontius feems the fame with the Ampbijbcena
Faria o f Linnaus, and o f Seba, i. p. 87. tab. 53. fig. 7.
Crocodiles grow here to a vaft fize; Hamilton killed one in this
ifland of the length of twenty-feven feet.
W h e r e fe a s o f g la f s w i t h g a y r e f l e c t io n s fm i l e
R o u n d t h e g r e e n c o a f t s o f Java's p a lm y i f l e ;
A fpacious plain extends its upland fcene,
Rocks rife on rocks, and fountains gufh between;
Soft zephyrs blow, eternal fummers reign,
And Ihowers prolific blefs the foil in vain !
No
No fpicy nutmegs fcent the vernal gales,
Nor towering plantain fhades the mid-day vales ;
No graffy mantle hides the fable hills,
No flowery chaplet crowns the trickling rills ; |
Nor tufted mofs, nor leathery lichen creeps,
In ruffet tapeftry, o’er the crumbling fteeps ;
No ftep retreating, on the fand imprefs’d,
Invites the vifit o f a fécond gueft ;
No refluent fin the unpeopled ftream divides,
No revolant pinion cleaves the airy tides ;
Nor handed moles, nor beaked worms return,
That mining pafs the irremeable bourn.
Fierce, in dread filence, on the blafted heath,
Fell U p a s fits, the H y d r a T r e e o f death;
Lo ! from one,root, the envenom’d foil below,
A thoufand vegetative ferpents grow ;
In fhining rays the fcaly monfter fpreads
O’er ten fquare leagues his far-diverging heads ;
Or in one trunk entwifts his tangled form,
Looks o’er the clouds, and hifles in the ftorm.
Steep’d in fell poifon, as his fharp teeth part,
A thoufand tongues in quick vibration dart ;
Snatch the proud eagle, towering o’er the heath,
Or pounce the lion as he ftalks beneath ;
Or ftrew, as marfhall’d hofts contend in vain,
With human fkeletons the whiten’d plain.
Chain’d at his root, two fcion demons dwell,
Breathe the faint hifs, or try the ihriller yell ;
V ol. IV. _ G Rife ■