lied to the gecko, the common
palette-tip (_Sphoeriodactylus argus_.) It is scarcely more than two
inches long, more nimble than fleet in its movement, and not very
attractive.

In the woods he would meet with other kinds. On the trunks of the
trees he might frequently see the Venus (_Dactyloa Edwardsii_), as it
is provincially called; a lizard much like the anoles of the houses,
of a rich grass-green colour, with orange throat-disk, but much larger
and fiercer; or, in the eastern parts of the island, the great iguana
(_Cyclura lophoma_), with it dorsal crest like the teeth of a saw
running down all its back, might be seen lying out on the branches of
the trees, or playing bo-peep from a hole in the trunk; or, in the
swamps and morasses of Westmoreland, the yellow galliwasp (_Celestus
occiduus_), so much dreaded and abhorred, yet without reason, might be
observed sitting idly in the mouth of its burrow, or feeding on the
wild fruits and marshy plants that constitute its food.--_Gosse's
Naturalist's Sojourn_.

A SCENE IN NEW ENGLAND.

I leave Boston sometimes in the evening by rail, get thirty miles off,
then strike away into byways, ramble for an hour or two, and get back
to the rail. I was out yesterday, and nothing can equal the colour of
the foliage: if it was painted, it would look like fancy. In the
course of my stroll, I came upon a lake entirely surrounded with
forest, and containing, as I was informed, about four square miles of
water, studded with islands varying in size from one to twenty acres.
I would describe a point of view which enchanted me. I was on one side
of the lake, where it is about half a mile in width: about half-way
across, for the foreground of my picture, is a small island, about two
acres, covered with trees, looking as if they grew out of the lake,
with a central one of at least eighty feet high, and of the purest
orange colour. The opposite shore is of a crescent shape, with the
forest rising like an amphitheatre behind, glowing with every
imaginable colour, from the intense crimson to the pale pink, and
looking exactly like an enormous flower-garden stretching away to the
distance, and the colour so strongly reflected in the water, that it
is difficult to tell the reality from the reflection. At home in
England, I would have gone far to see such scenes; but they are here
at every turn. I enclose you some leaves, but the purity of the colour
is gone after a few hours. I am sure