The iguana I have already described. So abundant are these delicious reptiles that they are sometimes brought to Belize by the dory-load; and one may see several hundred Caribs each carrying home one or two iguanas, still alive, but with toes tied together, over the back. Of other lizards there are many kinds, from the harmless little fellows which make a squeaking in the thatch at night, to the long-tailed, crested lizards which rob the hens’ nests and even make way with the small chickens. Fresh-water turtles are abundant, and one, the _hikatee_, is excellent eating; so are its eggs, of the size of a pullet’s, of which some two or three dozen are found in a nest six or eight inches below the surface of the sand. The sexes are easily distinguished by the shape of the tail, the female having a shorter and thicker one. The sea-turtle (including the hawksbill, so valuable for the tortoise-shell) are very abundant, and are caught in seines by the use of floating decoys. Some of these turtle weigh one hundred and fifty pounds, and their steaks are white and tender as the best veal. I have never been on the shore at the egg-season, and so can say nothing of the taste; but I am told they are much inferior to the eggs of the iguana. It is a common thing to capture sea-turtles which have had a flapper bitten off by sharks, and usually the wound has healed well, the soft scales covering the stump completely. Of the frogs, the most troublesome are those which get into the cisterns or behind the water-jars, and make a very loud and disagreeable noise. On the Atlantic coast snakes are much less common than on the Pacific. Two long, slender snakes, quite harmless,—one green, the other reddish-brown,—are seen once in a while; but although the natives believe that all snakes are poisonous, only the tomagoff,—a short, thick snake of dark color,—the rattlesnake, and the coral snake are really venomous, and these are rarely seen. Stories are told of boas seen lying across a road with head and tail concealed in the trees on either side; but they lack confirmation, and perhaps may be classed with the absurd snake story told by Juarros.[59] The supply of fish is good. The saw-fish grows to a great size, and its teeth are very long and sharp. The jew-fish is large, weighing several hundred pounds, and is good food. Snappers, mullet, bone-fish, king-fish, and a score of others of which we know only the local names, including one with solid red meat, are found in the rivers and bays. Of crustaceans, the crayfish takes the place of the lobster, and a small crab is common among the mangroves and in swampy forests; larger crabs come to the shores in breeding-time, but not in such numbers as at Belize.