WHERE DRAGONS ARE FOUND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 21 September 1938, Page 22

WHERE DRAGONS ARE FOUND.

Dragons of the fairy tale world are well known to nil of us. But did von know that real dragons are to be found in many parts of the world? At least they look just as fearsome as the fairytale creatures, and like them also are clad in scales. They do not breathe out fire and smoke, but one of them at least is just as remarkable, for it spouts jets of blood at its enemies from its evelids.

The Komodo dragon, which is found in the Dutch East Indies, {.tows up to 10 and even 12 feet in length, and is very likely the original of the dragons that we see so often in Chinese pictures. It has all the principal features of the legendary dragon—a long snakelike neck, long darting tongue deeply forked like a snake's, and a tremendous whiplike tail. Some of the dragons of the old legends were provided with wings, and these are also represented in modern times.

The flying dragons, as they are often called, are found in the Malay Peninsula. They are lizards which can glide from tree to tree by means of a large fold of skin along each side of the body, which acts as a parachute. These creatures are not very large, the largest being only about 15 inches long.