Except When Running Down Hill, They Cannot Move
Very Fast, Apparently From The Lateral Position Of Their Legs.
They Are Not At All Timorous:
When attentively watching any
one, they curl their tails, and, raising themselves on their
front legs, nod their heads vertically, with a quick movement,
and try to look very fierce; but in reality they are not at all
so:
If one just stamps on the ground, down go their tails,
and off they shuffle as quickly as they can. I have frequently
observed small fly-eating lizards, when watching anything,
nod their heads in precisely the same manner; but I do not
at all know for what purpose. If this Amblyrhynchus is held
and plagued with a stick, it will bite it very severely; but
I caught many by the tail, and they never tried to bite me.
If two are placed on the ground and held together, they will
fight, and bite each other till blood is drawn.
The individuals, and they are the greater number, which
inhabit the lower country, can scarcely taste a drop of water
throughout the year; but they consume much of the succulent
cactus, the branches of which are occasionally broken off
by the wind. I several times threw a piece to two or three
of them when together; and it was amusing enough to see
them trying to seize and carry it away in their mouths, like
so many hungry dogs with a bone. They eat very deliberately,
but do not chew their food.
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