Reptiles are not very conspicuous in these woods; one seldom sees a snake, although probably the dense undergrowth affords them sufficient concealment. In the outskirts of the forest, however, and indeed all over Imèrina, a pretty snake, from eighteen inches to two feet long, is frequently seen, dark brown in colour, with fine white lines along its slender length. The under side is white. Notwithstanding the innocuous character of these little snakes, it is amusing to see the dread the people have of them; our bearers, for instance, will leap away from them as if they were treading on the sharpest thorns. Some superstitious notions may partly account for this fear, as one of the former chief idols of the Hova, called Ramàhavàly (“the Avenger”), was supposed to be the patron and lord of serpents. One sometimes sees a water-snake swimming over the surface of a pond in a most graceful fashion.
LIZARDS
Lizards are now and then seen; one is a large unpleasant-looking creature, nearly two feet long, of which the tail is about one foot. But a much smaller and prettier one is not uncommon, with delicate markings. Other species, in the south-west region, vary in length from six to nine inches. And here, on the fleshy leaves of an aloe, we may see, basking in the hot sunshine, a beautiful little bright green lizard, or darting over the surface with such a rapid movement that it is difficult to observe it closely. Its colour is so exactly like its habitat that it is doubtless a “protective resemblance.” While staying at the sanatorium in November 1899 a very curious arboreal lizard was brought to us by some boys. This creature was clinging to a stick, and at first sight, and until closely examined, I could not distinguish it from the branch to which it clung. It was about six inches long, the body was somewhat flattened, as well as the head, and the eyes were large and bright. The feet were somewhat webbed, the toes ending in small disks like those of the geckoes. The tail was broad and flat, lying close to the branch, and shaped something like that of a beaver. But the most interesting point about this lizard was the wonderful resemblance of its colouring to that of the bark of a tree. The minute scales of the skin were mottled with brown, grey, green and white, so as exactly to resemble tree bark, with the usual clothing of lichens precisely the same in colour, together with small irregularities of surface; so that until examined minutely, one could hardly believe that the small patches of colour on the animal’s skin were not also due to vegetable growths. It was difficult at a few inches’ distance to see where the lizard began and the wood ended; and in the forest it would be impossible to distinguish it from the branch to which it clings. It proved, on being sent to England, to form a new genus.
A Forest Village
A native lady being carried in her palanquin. Notice the thatched huts and small verandahs. The village is built in a clearing of the forest on the route from the coast to the interior
CHAMELEONS
Chameleons are very frequently met with, not only in the woods but also in the open country of Imèrina; and in our gardens at the capital we often see them on the bushes or the paths, from the little baby one of an inch long to the full-grown one of six to eight inches. In the paths near the sanatorium one may see them digging holes and depositing their eggs, which are about the size of a small bean. Their colouring is often very beautiful, with its shades of green and yellow and black, brown and red markings, and there are certainly very rapid changes of colour according to the different surroundings. The bright tints they exhibit in sunshine and on leaves become dull dark brown in the shade, or on dark coloured resting-places. Sometimes they lose all colour, for I one day saw, on the path near the woods, a chameleon in the coils of a small snake, which had wound itself three times round the body and was apparently preparing to swallow it, beginning at the head, although it seemed almost impossible that the bulky body of the chameleon could pass through so small an opening. And this was a curious fact: the chameleon was perfectly white. From a sentimental pity for the little creature, I unwound the snake from it and placed it on a bush. It was apparently uninjured and soon began to resume its ordinary colouring, of which its terror had temporarily deprived it.
It is a noteworthy fact that Madagascar is one of the head-quarters of the Chameleonidæ, for out of fifty known species twenty-one at least are found in this island; and of the twenty-five kinds which have been enumerated as having horns and other remarkable processes on the head, no less than seventeen are peculiar to this country. One species has a nose dilated and toothed on each side; another has the top of the head conically produced; while four species have two flat diverging nasal prominences covered with large scutes; and in yet another species, the single long conical appendage to the nose is flexible. The largest Madagascar chameleon known is about a foot long and is called Ramìlahèloka, which may perhaps be (freely) translated, “Naughty old boy,” probably from its uncanny appearance and earthy colour; it is apparently always found on the ground. Of this creature the natives assert that anyone stepping on it, accidentally or otherwise, or seizing it, becomes ill. From the slow, deliberate pace of the chameleon, the Malagasy proverb advises foresight and retrospect: “Ataovy toy ny dìan-tàna: jerèo ny alòha, todìho ny aorìana”—i.e. “Act like the stepping of a chameleon: look where you are going, look back the way you have come.” Naughty little native boys are fond of making the male chameleons fight together, and it is curious to see how widely the red mouth is opened at such times.
LAND-SHELLS
While staying near the forest I occasionally saw and had brought to me specimens of some of the land-shells which are often found in damp places in the woods. Many years ago more than two hundred of these were known, and this number has probably been considerably added to since, and will still be increased as the country becomes more perfectly explored. Of non-operculate species about eighty were then described, of operculate species about fifty, and about fifty forms had been recorded from the lakes and rivers. The largest of these shells is a species of Helix (bicingulata), warm brown in colour, with diaper-like markings, flattish in shape, and three inches in its longest diameter. There are several other smaller helices; also examples of Cyclostoma, the opening of which, as the name implies, is almost a perfect circle; species of Ampullaria, which have a very large opening; Stenogyra, a long oval and spiral shell; dark green Melanatria, a large spiral shell like Turritella, three inches long, which I have gathered in forest streams; while the most delicately marked shells are species of Neritina, with black lines, like fine etchings, on a pale yellow ground. Species of Bultimus, also a beautifully marked shell, and of Limnea, Physa, Phanorbis, and many others are among the fluviatile and terrestrial mollusca of Madagascar.