IN SAMOA

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 106, 31 October 1914, Page 4

IN SAMOA

STORY OF A LIZARD. TWO SOLDIERS BITTEN.

Although the New Zealand Garrison in Samoa has never had the satisfaction of being under fire, it appears that two of them at least can lay claim to the "scars of battle" as the result of one more or less honourable engagement. Full details of the incident, an encounter with a Samoan lizard, were received in Wellington by last mail. The principal in the little "drama," writing to his mother states: "I want to tell you how I got bitten by the only venomous or poisonous reptile on tho island. One of our fellows bought a rare lizaril from one of tho natives for 2s 6d. This lizard is of a very rare species, and I believe is worth a big sum of money in a civilised land. It ia about 12 inches long, with a black back and red markings and very fine eyes set widely apart. The- story goes that the eyes when boiled in a certain make magnificent imitation opals, t ultimately escaped into the bush about ten yards away from our tent, and we agreed to have a shot at getting ifc back that night. A lizard is always attracted by a light, and when a powerful lamp is swinging full in its eyes it will uemain stationary. When it be« came dark ,we got the lamp from our tent and entered the edge of the bush. After < waiting about five minutes and whistling (not to keep our peafcer up, but to attract the lizard) I saw by the trunk of a tree two glowing hres about two inches apart. The eyes wefe flashing a brilliant red. I called to a V.C. man (not Victoria Cross but VictoriaCollege) to come and look. He said ifc was the lizard all right, so I started to move towards it. Of course, all the rest of the fellows came up then and started making a noise. This, did not seem to scare it, so I went on. Then one silly, flat-headed idiot got excited and made a swipe at it with a big stick and moved it out of its place. The thing disappeared and the next we knew was that 'the fellow who had swiped at ifc ( was running rdund yelling that tho thing had bitten him. Right enough, there were two nasty pricks in his leg and a gash underneath from which the blood was pouring. He made off at the double for the hospital, where they injected something into his leg and bound it. His leg became swollen and turned in places black and in other places red. He is all right now. "Aftor ho left we said we would have another shofc at finding the lizard, and went back to have another look. I think we wore fools to go back. Two of the fellows wouldn't go at all. We had been in the bush about a minute when I got a sharp prod in the back of my boot. I jumped round and asked if he had dug me with the rake he had He said no, and while we were speaking he saw the lizard. You should nave seen the scramble. We wero trying to dodge the lizard and the lizard was trying to dodge us, and there was a general mix-up. We got out of the bush, and none of us felt like going biick, 80 I had a look at my leg." The wilder states that ho found he had been bitten, too, and was obliged to pay a visit to the hospital, where his "wound" was Attended to with satisfactory results.