Page:The fairy tales of science.djvu/29

 creature, who loves the shelter which these trees afford.

Yonder is one of these extraordinary monsters. He has just emerged from the forest, and is marching towards the lake slowly and majestically, a regular moving mountain! His legs are like trunks of trees, and his body, which rivals that of the elephant in bulk, is covered with scales. In length and height he equals the great lizard we have already described, but his whole appearance is far less awe-inspiring. There is a good-humoured expression in his face, and his teeth are not nearly so formidable as those of his predacious neighbour, being blunt and short, and evidently fitted for the mastication of vegetable food.

Look! he is quietly grazing on those luxuriant ferns which lie in his path. Now the foliage of a tall palm-like tree seems to offer a tempting mouthful, but it is beyond his reach: there are more ways than one of procuring a meal—see, the huge vegetarian places his fore-paws against the stem of the tree and coolly pushes it down. Having stript the fallen stem of its sword-like leaves, he plunges in the lake, and flounders about in the water as though the bath were his greatest source of enjoyment. This huge herbivorous monster would probably be no match for the cruel creature whom we left devouring his enemy by the river, as all its