nt of a
magnificent black iguana--_Cyclura acanthura_--which does, in fact,
somewhat resemble the supposed appearance of the fabulous animal
described by the ancients. Its skin shone with a silvery-gray metallic
glitter, more particularly on the dorsal ridge. L'Encuerado joined us
when it was dying, when, rubbing his hands, he cried:

"It is a _guachi-cheve_; what a splendid supper we shall have!"

"You have seen them before, then?"

"It is an animal which belongs to my country, Chanito; it abounds in the
plains which slope down to the Pacific Ocean. They are beasts which can
live without eating; they are sometimes kept for two months with their
feet tied and their mouth sewn up."

"The mouth sewn up?"

"Yes, Chanito, so as to prevent them getting lean. When I was your age,
during the time of Lent, I used to go iguana hunting with my brothers.
We sought them in the shallow marshes which are inundated by water
during flood-time. There, in hollow trunks of trees, or in holes made in
the mud, we found the black iguanas, and pulled them out by their
tails."

"Then they don't bite?"

"Oh yes, they do, and scratch also; so we took care to catch hold of
them by the neck, and tie both their feet and their jaws. Sometimes we
used to pursue them up the trees; but then, for they don't mind falling
twenty or thirty feet, they frequently escaped."

[Illustration: "I used to go iguana hunting with my brothers."]

Sumichrast completed this information by telling the young naturalist
that the iguana, which is allied to the lizards, is generally a yard in
length; and that the female lays thirty to forty eggs, which are much
esteemed by the native epicures; also that the green species--_Iguana
rhinolopha_--has a flat, thin tail, and swims much better than the black
variety, the tail of which, being covered with spines, is not well
adapted for progression through water. Thus, meeting with a green iguana
almost always indicates the vicinity of a stream; but the black
species is frequently found away from rivers.

Lucien wanted at first to carry his game, but he was overtaxed by its
weight and gave it up to l'Encuerado. Another hill was now before us,
and the ground became at every step more and more barren, and on which
there was little or nothing growing but a few shrubs with a bluish
flower. When we had reached the summit of this second ridge, a boundless
plain lay spread out before our gaze; we were now on the central platea