Page:Panama-past-present-Bishop.djvu/42

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22
Panama Past and Present

ders, seem here to be entirely given over to the lizards. Lizards are everywhere, and of all sizes, from three

IGUANA.

inches long to five or six feet. These big fellows are called iguanas, and look remarkably like dragons out of a fairy-book, except that they have no wings and do not breathe fire and smoke. They are quite harmless, and eagerly hunted by the natives, because their flesh, when well stewed, tastes like chicken. One of the old chroniclers speaks of these lizards as "'guanas, which make good broth."

CROCODILE.

Far more formidable than the harmless lizards are the great man-eating crocodiles that swarm in the rivers of Panama. They are not alligators, as is usually and incorrectly stated, for the alligator is a smaller, broader-muzzled beast, that does not attack men. The American crocodile, usually confused with the alligator,