The yguanà, an animal of the lizard kind, closely resembles the dragon
which St. George is represented overthrowing. It is sometimes more than
an ell long. Its belly is large, its skin clothed with green, white, and
yellow scales, elegantly varied with red. From the head to the extremity
of the tail, the spine of the back is surmounted by a denticulated fin.
Its thick and very long tail is marked with kinds of black rings,
intermixed with red ones, and ends in a very slender point. It is
furnished with large black eyes, a nose spreading as wide as the lips,
short teeth, a cloven tongue, which, when irritated, it moves very
quickly, four feet, and lower down five nails, wide like the sole of the
foot, and covered with a thin web, which assists it in swimming; for it
sometimes swims in the water, sometimes climbs trees, and sometimes
lurks for a long time in corners of houses, being very patient of
hunger. It never does harm to any one. It feeds upon honey, little
birds' eggs, oranges, sweet citrons, and other fruits. It is incredibly
tenacious of life, for after being stripped of its skin, and having
received frequent wounds on the head, it will not die, till its head be
severed from its body. Though the horrible form of the yguanà inspires
all beholders with terror, yet its extremely white flesh delights the
palates of many. Deceived by my companion, I ate it for fish, and at
another time for chicken, and pronounced it exceedingly savoury. But I
never could prevail upon myself knowingly to taste the yguanà, so great
was the horror which I conceived of its external appearance. The yguanà
lays about forty eggs in as many days; they are round, about the size of
a walnut, and of a white or yellowish hue, like hens' eggs. Some people
eat them fried. As they abound in their own native fat, water is poured
on them instead of oil or butter. They say that little stones are
sometimes found in the head of the yguanà, which, when ground to powder,
and drunk with a wholesome potion, or simply applied to the body,
diminish or remove stone in the kidneys. Others affirm that a stone, an
ounce in weight, is found in some other part of this animal's body,
which, when reduced to powder, and drunk in tepid water, removes
obstructions of the bladder. I never saw any stones of this kind—never
tried their efficacy. Besides this, other kinds of lizards, of different
forms and colours, are seen in Paraguay, but I have nothing remarkable
to relate of them. The chameleon is very seldom seen here. I once saw
one jump hastily out of a boat which lay on the ground near the shore,
but had not time to examine it closely.