to
settle for the night. In a boudoir where the ladies of my family spent
their evenings, one of these familiar and amusing little creatures had
its hiding-place behind a gilt picture frame. Punctually as the candles
were lighted, it made its appearance on the wall to be fed with its
accustomed crumbs; and if neglected, it reiterated it sharp, quick call
of _chic, chic, chit,_ till attended to. It was of a delicate gray
colour, tinged with pink; and having by accident fallen on a work-table,
it fled, leaving part of its tail behind it, which, however, it
reproduced within less than a month. This faculty of reproduction is
doubtless designed to enable the creature to escape from its assailants:
the detaching of the limb is evidently its own act; and it is
observable, that when reproduced, the tail generally exhibits some
variation from the previous form, the diverging spines being absent, the
new portion covered with small square uniform scales placed in a cross
series, and the scuta below being seldom so distinct as in the original
member.[2] In an officer's quarters in the fort of Colombo, a geckoe had
been taught to come daily to the dinner-table, and always made its
appearance along with the dessert. The family were absent for some
months, during which the house underwent extensive repairs, the roof
having been raised, the walls stuccoed, and the ceilings whitened. It
was naturally surmised that so long a suspension of its accustomed
habits would have led to the disappearance of the little lizard; but on
the return of its old friends, it made its entrance as usual at their
first dinner the instant the cloth was removed.

[Footnote 1: Hemidactylus maculatus, _Dum_. et _Bib_., H. Leschenaultii,
_Dum_, et _Bib_; H. frenatus, _Schlegel_. Of these the last is very
common in the houses of Colombo. Colour, grey; sides with small
granules; thumb short; chin-shields four; tail rounded with transverse
series of small spines; femoral and preanal pores in a continuous line.
GRAY, _Lizard_, p. 155.]

[Footnote 2: _Brit. Mus. Cat._ p. 143; KELAART's _Prod. Faun. Zeylan.,_
p. 183.]

_Crocodile._--The Portuguese in India, like the Spaniards in South
America, affixed the name of _lagarto_ to the huge reptiles that
infested the rivers and estuaries of both continents; and to the present
day the Europeans in Ceylon apply the term _alligator_ to what are in
reality _crocodiles_, which literally swarm in the still waters and
tanks in