Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/78

72 72 DR. JOHN SCOULER. rocks we frequently saw a small eagle of a golden yellow colour, & in the woods the most common species of Co- lumba. This bird was the size of a large sparrow, & the feathers of the neck had a bright metallic lustre. I have preserved a specimen of this bird which is probably new. The animals of the class Reptilia are numerous & inter- esting ; & belong to the genera Testuda, Iguana, Lacerta. The land tortoise (T.indica) abounds in the mountains, & was of very large size. They are very peac[e]able ani- mals & withdrew themselves into their shells on the ap- pearance of danger. They live entirely upon grass, of which they seem to eat large quantities. Their flesh was excellent & entirely free from the fishy flavour of the sea turtles. The green turtle (T. viredes) is exceedingly abundant & is of very great size, frequently weighing 240 Ibs. We had two methods of taking them, we either sur- prised them while they were asleap on shore or caught them while in the water which was more difficult. We approached them -in the boat making as little noise as possible, while a man stood ready to fix a tomahawk into his back, & to hold the animal till it could be lifted into the boat. This plan was attended by one inconvenience that the turtle may often [be] so much injured as to die in a few days. The woods abound in a large species of Iguana which I think is new. I attempted to preserve a specimen but it became so putrid as to oblige me to throw it away. It is about 29 inches long. The back & sides are of a brown colour & the belly is yellow. The whole skin was covered by small scaly tubercles ; & had a ridge of very large & pointed ones extending from the occiput to the extremity of the tail. There was a dilitation under the throat but no large tubercles in that situation. The tongue was fleshy, inextensible & slightly bilobed at the point. The lungs were of large size & of a very delicate texture. & extended far into the abdomen. The stomach was very