It was a reptile of that most hideous and horrid shape, the _saurian_; and only the hungriest man could ever have looked upon, with thoughts of eating it.
But Saloo felt no repugnance of this kind; he knew that the huge lizard creeping along the limb of the banyan-tree, over five feet long, and nearly as thick as the body of a man, would afford flesh not only eatable, but such as would have been craved for by Apicius, had the Roman epicure ever journeyed through the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, and found an opportunity of making trial of it.
What they saw slowly traversing the branch above them was one of those huge lizards of the genus _Hydrosaurus_, of which there are several species in Indian climes--like the _iguanas_ of America--harmless creatures, despite their horrid appearance, and often furnishing to the hunter or forester a meal of chops and steaks both tender and delicious.
With this knowledge of what it would afford them, Saloo had no difficulty in persuading Captain Redwood to send a bullet through the skull of the _hydrosaurus_, and it soon lay lifeless upon the ground.
The lizard was nigh six feet from snout to tail; and Saloo, assisted by Murtagh, soon slipped a piece of his vegetable rope around its jaws, and slung it up to a horizontal branch for the purpose of skinning it.

Thus suspended, with limbs and arms sticking out, it bore a very disagreeable resemblance to a human being just hanged.

Saloo did not care anything about this, but at once commenced peeling off its skin; and then he cut the body into quarters, and subdivided them into "collops," which were soon sputtering in the blaze of a bright fire.

As the Malay had promised, these proved tender, tasting like young pork steaks, with a slight flavour of chicken, and just a _soupcon_ of frog.

Delicate as they were, however, after three days' dieting upon them all felt stronger--almost strong enough, indeed, to commence their grand journey.
Just then another, and still more strengthening, kind of food was added to their larder.