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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2005 123HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

Dominica

Late in the afternoon ... we descried a speck dancing on the
waves, which speck was, of course, a boat; and in that boat,

when it reached us, I engaged passage for the shore, my unhappy
companions drifting about until the next afternoon, sometimes
in sight, sometimes lost of view for a long time. As we neared
shore I had time to examine the character of the scenery of the
western coast, as one object after another was unfolded, and the
mass of green and blue resolved itself into wooded hills, narrow
valleys, and misty mountain-tops that reached the clouds. A
planter’s house gleamed white in a valley; a pebbly beach
stretched between high bluffs, with a grove of cocoa palms half
hiding a village of rude cabins along its border.

I was approaching an island of historic interest and scenic
beauty, of which the events of one and the elements of the other
are little known to the world at large. It is the first island upon
which Columbus landed on his second voyage. Having been
first seen on Sunday, it was called by him Dominica, and this
event dates from the 3d of November, 1493. Blest isle of the
Sabbath day! Many changes has it known since the great navi-
gator first saw its blue mountains and landed upon its fragrant
strand.

Does it read like a fairy tale, this second voyage of
Columbus? With three ships and fourteen caravels, containing
fifteen hundred persons, he set sail from Cadiz, touched at the
Canary Isles, and then shaped his course for the islands of the
Caribs, of whose prowess and fierce nature he had heard many
stories from the mild people of Hispaniola. At the dawn of day,
November 3d, a lofty island was descried to the west. As the

ships moved gently onward, other islands rose to sight, one after
another, covered with forests and enlivened by flights of parrots
and other tropical birds, while the whole air was sweetened by
the fragrance of the breezes which passed over them.

Grenada and the Grenadines
Skirting the belt of mangroves bordering the lagoon, one morn-
ing in March, I anxiously searched the intertwined branches for
iguanas. Grenada is celebrated as being the home of great num-
bers of these reptiles, which may often be found basking on old
walls within the limits of the town. My boatman was a negro,
who, accustomed to the appearance of the iguana in the trees,
discovered one long before I could distinguish the difference
between the reptile and green leaves. Even after it had been
pointed out, I had difficulty in recognizing it, so nearly did its
colors harmonize with those of the tree in which it was feeding.

It lay quite still, stretched flat upon a branch, its tail hang-
ing down like that of a snake. Though it was evidently suspi-
cious of our intentions, its quiet was not due to that alone, for
it is normally a sluggish animal. Yet, when once thoroughly
aroused, it will dash over the ground at great speed. I fired, yet
it still clung tenaciously to the bough, and a second shot did not
kill it, for it would have escaped had not my boatman pinned it
with an oar, after it had fallen into the mud. From one that we
captured that morning, the man with me procured a dozen
large, white eggs, which he saved to eat.…

The order Sauria, the lizard order, is well represented in the
West Indies, though in none of the smaller islands between
Porto Rico and Trinidad is to be found that greatest of the sauri-
ans, the alligator. The Indians of Dominica, to whom I
described the alligator, were greatly amazed to hear of a ‘lizard’
twelve feet in length, as they had never seen one larger than an
iguana, which seldom attains a greater length than five feet, and
is as mild in disposition as the alligator is sanguinary. The
islands, especially the shores, are teeming with lizards of every
color, of every variety of marking, and of all sizes.

Especially do they love the cliffs, and if you are walking
through the bushes at the base of any sunny precipice, or over
any rocky tract, you will be startled by the frequent dashes made
by these reptiles across your path. In a country where you must
keep every sense on the alert, to guard against sudden surprise
by serpents or poisonous insects, it is very annoying, often star-
tling, to be so frequently disturbed by these active creatures. In
the mountains are fewer species, and they are more sluggish, but

H I S T O R I C A L  P E R S E C T I V E S

Camps in the Caribbees: The Adventures of
a Naturalist in the Lesser Antilles1

Frederick A. Ober

1 Excerpted from the book with this title published initially in 1879.

A Saban iguana (Iguana iguana), “I had difficulty in recognizing it, so
nearly did its colors harmonize with those of the tree in which it was
feeding.”

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124 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 12, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2005

in the warm lowlands you must be very active to capture one….
They are not poisonous, though repulsive to many, and though
some of them will bite severely, they do not inflict dangerous
wounds.

There are many hideous forms, especially among those of
South America, like the Basilisk and the Flying Dragon; but in
the West Indies there is none more hideous than the iguana.
Never was more harmless creature invested with more frighten-
ing aspect…. In the islands where it exists it is eagerly sought as
food, and its flesh is palatable and delicate, as I can testify from
experience, being white, tender, and nutritious.

The good father Père Labat (worthy missionary and bon
vivant withal) compares fricasseed guana to chicken for the
whiteness of its flesh and delicacy of its flavor.…

Some Summer Days in Martinique
Centipedes and scorpions also abound here. Indeed, it seems
that nature has bestowed upon this island of Martinique all the
pests and scourges known to these islands; for only here and in
the adjacent island of St. Lucia is found that most venomous
and vengeful of all serpents, the Lance-head snake
Craspedocephalus lanceolatus [= Bothrops lanceolatus]. The isola-
tion of this snake on these two islands, when its nearest habitat
is Guiana, is one of the most vexing stumbling-blocks to one
studying the distribution of animals. How came it here? Was it
introduced, or is it indigenous? Was it wafted here upon some

floating tree, or was its home here from the beginning? The cor-
rect solution of this problem would, doubtless, throw some light
upon that more important and gigantic one, Were these islands
once a part of the continents? Certain it is, the adjacent islands
of Dominica and St. Vincent, separated from these channels less
than thirty miles in width, are free from this scourge. Nay, more;
it is recorded that, during the wars between the English and the
Caribs, in the last century, the Lance-head was carried to the
islands just named, but could not be made to live.

Annually, during the crop season, many laborers are killed
in each island, for this snake has its hiding-places in the canes as
well as the forests. It has been so abundant that in this garden
the pleasant walks and shady drives are nearly always deserted.
A serpent over seven feet in length, killed in the garden, is shown
in the Museum. There is, it is said, no antidote for its bite….
The poison is quickly fatal, and decomposition rapidly fol-
lows…. The dread of the serpent is universal. It seems to possess
a hatred for man; and it is seriously avowed by the natives that
it will lie in wait for an opportunity to inflict death. The coun-
try people live in continual trepidation, and very few of them
will venture from their houses after dark, even in the suburbs of
the city.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

Fer-de-lance (Bothrops lanceolatus), “The dread of the serpent is uni-
versal. It seems to possess a hatred for man; and it is seriously avowed
by the natives that it will lie in wait for an opportunity to inflict death.”

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“The islands, especially the shores, are teeming with lizards of every color, of every variety of marking, and of all sizes.” Anolis aeneus from Union
Island (The Grenadines) (left) and A. richardii from Grenada.

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St. Pierre, Martinique in 1888, 14 years before the eruption of Mt.
Pelee, “Indeed, it seems that nature has bestowed upon this island of
Martinique all the pests and scourges known to these islands; for only
here and in the adjacent island of St. Lucia is found that most ven-
omous and vengeful of all serpents, the Lance-head snake…”
(Lanceheads from Martinique, St. Lucia, and mainland South and
Central America are now considered separate species). Photograph cour-
tesy of Philip Walwyn




