The eggs of all the different kinds of alligators, and there are three or four distinct species abounding in the Amazon and its tributary streams, are eaten by the natives, though they have a very strong musky odour. The largest species of alligator (Jacare nigra), reaches a length of 15 or rarely 20 feet.
Mr. Wallace, in his Travels, records, that on one occasion, the Indians on the Rio Negro supped off a young alligator they had caught in a brook near, ‘but the musty odour was so strong that I could not stomach it, and after getting down a bit of the tail, finished my supper with mingau, or gruel of mandioc.’
Alligators are killed in great numbers in parts of the river Amazon, for their fat, which is made into oil.
Hernandez states, that the flesh of the Axolotl, an aquatic reptile, is very agreeable and wholesome. It is the Siren pisciformis of Shaw; the Menobranchus pisciformis, Harl. It is commonly sold in the markets of Mexico. When dressed after the manner of stewed eels, and served up, with a stimulating sauce, it is esteemed a great luxury. The flesh of the sauve-garde or common Teguixin of Brazil (Teguixin monitor of Gray, Teius Teguixin) is eaten, and is said to be excellent.
The flesh of the common ada of Mr. Gray is accounted excellent by the natives of Guiana, who compare it to a fowl; its eggs are also in great request. It is the Thorictes dracæna, Bibron; La grande dragonne, Cuvier, and attains the length of four to six feet.
Some species of lizards are used as food in Burmah. One of these especially, called pada, is stated not to be inferior to a fowl,—this is probably the iguana. Nearly every species of serpent is eaten there, after the head has been cut off. All have a fishy taste. Some few kinds, however, although the teeth are carefully removed, cannot be used, as the flesh appears to be poisonous.
The flesh of snakes is eaten by many in Dominica, particularly by the French, some of whom are very fond of it; but it is reckoned unwholesome, and to occasion the leprosy.
A snake called, by the natives of Western Australia wango, is particularly liked by them as food.
There is a very venomous yellow-bellied snake, from five to six feet long, called locally dubyt, which is much dreaded; but that is also eaten by them.
The formidable lance-headed viper, of the Leeward Islands (Trigonocephalus lanceolatus), feeds chiefly on birds, lizards, and rats. After swallowing their prey, these snakes exhale a disgusting odour; this does not prevent the negroes from eating their flesh, which they find, it is said, free from any unpleasant flavour.