out of the hands of the Brahmins, by whom they are daily fed.* "The phenomenon of small fish appearing, in the rainy season, in places before dry," (in the neighbourhood of Bombay,) Mr. Pennant says, "is as true as it is surprising. The natives begin to fish for. them the tenth day after the first rains, and they make a common dish at the tables." Among the several modes of accounting for this annual appearance, this Naturalist prefers, as the least violent explanation, that these fish have "a pre-existent state" in the form of frogs. + Alligators and porpoises are common in the Ganges. The Gangetic crocodile (lacerta alligator) grows to the length of 30 feet, and is as dangerous as the Nilotic, from which it differs chiefly in its narrow, long, and hooked proboscis, "formed like the bill of the bird goosander." There is another large species of crocodile in the Ganges, called the ghurri-aul; "so named from an excrescence in form of a ball, near the end of the nose, which tapers from the head, and ends abrupt, like the snout of a dog. There is a * One of Vishnoo's incarnations is said to have been in the form of a fish, but as to the particular kind, authorities are not agreed. The fish of the Ganges are worshipped at the festivals in honour of Gunga, in common with all the other finny, apodal, and amphibious inhabitants of the sacred waters. The fish above described, is probably indebted for the attentions paid it by the Brahmins, to its choosing the Alaknunda. Mr. Ward was informed, that the Hindoo women inhabiting the banks of the Padma branch of the Ganges, actually worship the Ilishu fish, when they first arrive in the river, and, after the due ceremonies, " partake of them without the fear of injuring their health."-WARD, vol. i. p. 281. † Pennant, vol. i. p. 102. The island of Bombay and other places swarm with frogs and toads. Pennant, vol. ii. p. 207. A specimen of this species, 14 feet in length, is in the British Museum. smaller species, not above 12 feet long; the head and neck are half the length of the body; the gape of the mouth is of an uncommon width. It does not attack man, but eagerly devours dogs. It is always found in the tanks after the annual inundations, and is supposed to be brought down from some of the streams which flow into the Ganges, but never descends into that river. This species is particularly venerated by the Hindoos as a consecrated animal. They are sometimes maintained in the ditches of fortified places, as contributing to their defence. Lizards are extremely common in all the provinces: among the Ghauts, there are some of prodigious size; and though hideous in shape, they are of most beautiful colours.* The salt-waters of Travancore abound with the phoca pusilla, a genus of seal partaking of both the beaver and the otter. The Travancore seal has a round head, short ears, thick neck, tapering body, and flat tail like a fish; it is web-footed, and the skin is covered with a soft oily hair. It seldom exceeds four "In some," says Mr. Forbes, "the shoulders and dewlap take every intervening shade between the palest yellow and the brightest scarlet: in others, the dewlap is of the brightest azure, contrasted by yellow, scarlet, and orange, in other parts of the body. The greatest curiosity is the chameleon (lacerta chamæleon), found in every thicket" (in the Concan).-Orient. Mem. vol. i. p. 198. This author had one for several weeks in his possession, of which he gives a minute description. The average size, including the tail, is about 9 inches long, the body being half that length, and it has a hollow tongue half the length of the body. The general colour of the one described, was a pleasant green, spotted with pale blue, which changed to a bright yellow, dark olive, and dull green. It never appeared to so much advantage as when irritated: its body was then considerably inflated, and the skin clouded, like tortoise-shell, in shades of yellow, orange, green, and black. If a black object came in its way, it was instantaneously transformed to a hideous skeleton, black as jet. On removing the cause, the sable hue gave way to a brilliant colouring. feet in length. These amphibious animals are gregarious, and form sociable parties on the banks of the rivers, but always plunge in at the approach of a' stranger. The hippocampus, or sea-horse, is caught in great numbers off the Malabar coast. This singular animal "is generally from four to six inches in length, and two in circumference at the thickest part; the head and curvature of the neck resemble a horse, whence a short, swelling body gradually tapers to the extremity of the tail. Some parts of its form are quadrangular, others hexangular, and the body has seven or eight divisions; the whole separated by ridges, and furnished with fins, to shape its course in its own element." The sword fish (a very large species), the flyingfish, the tiger-shark, the sea-hedgehog, and other curious genera, abound in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Sea; † and off most of the coasts, at the distance of 20 or 30 leagues from land; sea snakes are numerous, from three to four feet long, and very venomous. Turtles are common on the coasts: the best tortoise-shell is from the Orissa shore. The sepia octopodia, or eight-armed cuttle-fish, grows, in the Indian seas, to an amazing size. "The natives affirm, that some have been seen, two fathoms broad over their centre, and that each arm was nine fathcms long. When the Indians navigate their little boats, they go in dread of them; and lest these animals should fling their arms over them and sink them, they never sail without an ax to cut them off." § * Forbes's Orient. Mem. vol. i. pp. 341, 359. † Pennant, vol. i. pp. 213, 14; vol. ii. p. 318. Pennant, vol. i. p. 59. § Ib. vol. i. p. 215. "These," adds Mr. Pennant, "may parallel the enormous polypus or sepia described by Pliny (lib. ix. c. 30), PART I. G The serpents of Hindostan form a very formidable catalogue. Dr. Patrick Russell has given a delineation of forty-three species found on the Coromandel coast. The royal serpent, or boa, which attains the enormous length of forty feet, is treated with divine honours.* Similar homage is rendered to the hooded snake (coluber naja, cobra di capello), called by the natives naag or nagao, and nella pamboo, the good serpent. This singular reptile, which is found over all the hotter parts of India, receives its name from its having the power to dilate the skin of the head into the form of a hood. The centre of this moveable skin bears a mark, in black and white, resembling the form of a pair of spectacles, whence it is also called the spectaclesnake. It distends its hood only on being agitated by fear or some other passion, when, rearing the fore part of the body a third of its whole length, it spreads it out, and moves its head round, darting a fiery glance in every direction, often remaining in other respects immoveable; or else its motion becomes slow, steady, and cautious, on which account, in India, it is deemed the emblem of prudence. This species is from four to eight or nine feet in length, and is justly dreaded for its venomous bite, which is generally mortal, producing a universal gangrene in two or three hours. Yet, it is capable of being tamed; and the Malabar jugglers have the art of teaching them to dance to the inharmonious and slow notes of their flageolet. The serpent first seems astonished, then begins to rear himself, and sometimes, by a gentle, which made its nightly invasions on the magazines of salt-fish at Carteia, and long put both men and dogs at defiance." * This is the anacandaia of Ceylon, compared for its size to the mast of a ship. It is found in Africa and the Indian islands, and is described by Mrs. Graham as common in the vicinity of Bombay. undulating motion of the head, and with distended hood, seems to listen with pleasure to the notes.* The cobra de aurellia thicker than a crowthe ear, and occasion The bite of the cobra-manilla is not less speedily mortal. This is a genus of a bluish colour, about a foot long, haunting old walls. is only six inches long, and not quill; it is apt to creep into death by producing frenzy. The sand-snake is another small species, not less fatal. The palmira, with a viperine head and varied body, is four feet long, yet, in no part thicker than a crow-quill. One of the most dangerous is a long snake (a species of jaculus), of a beautiful green, called the whip-snake, from its resemblance to the lash of a coachman's whip. This insi The calingan or cobra di capello makes a conspicuous appearance in the sculptures at Elora, Salsette, and Elephanta. These "dancing snakes" are carried in baskets by the jugglers all over India; and it is, Mr. Forbes says, "a well attested fact," that when a house is infested with these snakes, and some others of the coluber genus which destroy poultry, or some even of the larger serpents of the boa tribe, the musicians are sent for, who charm the reptiles from their hiding-places to their own destruction.-Orient. Mem., vol. i. p. 43. † Mr. Forbes describes the "cobra minelle" as "the smallest and most dangerous" species, occasioning by its bite a speedy and painful death." They are of a brown colour, speckled with black and white, at a distance not easily distinguished from the ground on which they move. They enter the houses, and creep upon the beds and chairs. Mr. Forbes once found four, and at another time five in his chamber up stairs.-Orient. Mem., vol. i. p. 42. Thomson well describes this reptile as "The small close-lurking minister of fate, Whose high concocted venom thro' the veins Mr. Pennant speaks of a snake found at Bombay and near Madras, which the Portuguese call cobra di morte. "It is only from six to nine inches long. It has on its head the marks of a scull and two cross-bones, perhaps imaginary." Its bite produces instantaneous death. PENNANT, vol. ii. p. 279, This is probably the same that Mr. Forbes describes, |