Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 February 1920 — LIZARD EGGS HIGHLY PRIZED [ARTICLE]

LIZARD EGGS HIGHLY PRIZED

Theos of th* Water Monlter Are K» / teamed a Delicacy in Many Parte / of Malay Peninsula. The water monitor la one of the standbys of the natives of India, Ceylon and the Malay peninsula and Island and the eggs of this species of tllsard are mors highly prised than j hens' eggs. You might shudder when you sud* ’ denly confronted a water monitor In i the jungle. Not so the native, hunt- ' Ing its eggs and rejoicing to get near ’ such treasures. The monitor is equipped with a long yaked tongue, extending from a sheath like a snake's. It la one of the largest of existing lizards, reaching a RLigth of seven feet, although Its nearest relative, the gigantic Australian ' monitor, grows from twelve to thirty i fast long. The monitor lays twenty or 1 more white, soft-shelled eggs in hoi-' low trees, and in Burma these bring a much higher price than hen’s eggs. “The monitor is well fitted for its lite,” says a writer in the Scientific American. “It is a swift runner, able to overtake the speediest mammals, turtles and snakes on which It feed* It often startles hunters by 7 crashing through the jungle, making ' as much noise as large game. It climbs / trues for squirrels, birds and their / eggs. At other times it may be found digging along stream banks for the eggs of the crocodile, of which It is most fond. Either in running or swimm|ng it can leave Its enemies far behind. If surprised when up a tree it drops into the water, swimming with - powerful strokes of its flattened tail, which acts as oars and rudder. When being captured it fights with teeth, i daws and tail. “The natives term the monitor *Ka- ; bara-Goya.’ Although it is harmless and non-polsonous, it is used to produce deadly poisons. The Singalese : aye experts in brewing a deadly poison termed ‘Kgbaratel.’ [ “They extract poisons from venomous snakes, adding arsenic and other drugs, boiling the combination in human skulls. And here the monitor coeimi in as a part of their supersti1 They tie three monitors on three aides facing the firs. Then they tor- , meat the monitors with whips and ' make them hiss to cause the fire to blase up. The natives believe that \ the kiss of the monitors adds to ths . poisonous quality es the deadly brew."