I saw here for the first time the curious flying lizards. Their
partly transparent wings were generally of very bright colours; they
fly fully twenty yards from one tree to another, and quickly run up
the trees out of reach. Another quaint lizard, was what is generally
known as the gecko. It is said to be poisonous in the Philippines,
and is generally found on trees or bamboos and often in houses. In
comparison to the size of this lizard the volume of its voice was
enormous. I generally heard it at night. First would come a preliminary
gurgling chuckle; then a pause (between the chuckle and what follows
it). Then comes loud and clear, "Tuck-oo-o," then a slight pause, then
"Tuck-oo-o" again repeated six or seven times at regular intervals;
at other times it sounds like "Chuck it." When it was calling inside
a hollow bamboo, the noise made was extraordinary. There were a
great number of bamboos in the surrounding country, and they were
continually snapping with loud reports, which I would often imagine
to be the reports of a rifle until I got used to them. Wild pig were
very plentiful, and at night they would often grub up the ground a few
yards from my hut. One night I was skinning a bird, with Vic looking
on, when we heard some animal growling close by, and Vic without any
warning seized my gun (which I always kept loaded with buckshot) and
fired into the darkness.
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