The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-02-24
Thc Californian.
or 'THE. BOYS AND t!i>I =
Round-th c-World Joe.
Irnm IL Srhnnifei,nw.


patiently 70 hear aLou, Jocs other pet That
was chameleon, a very wonderful little rep
tile atou. As hare! 10 believe in a. that lro.l
duck that died out long ago, called thc dodo,
which looks in the pictures. like a walking
umpling with feathers on it: or tie ,,lu.nix
ih.t solitary .om there is only one of them
IN 'he whole world that you SEQ painted on
the fire Insurance companies signs, with ito
t-ll on fEc, and it a warminy its head at the
tIazc or the critlon, halt lion, half earle.
hat watches over gold nine, and hidden
treasures.
Iou know they say the chameleon lives on
+. and changes color as many times in its
1T: as there are drops il the sparkling shower
winch makes an April rainbow. Now, ask ed
Joe about that; for, hctwecn YOU and me-
though could stand the color changing story
that air eating was rather TOO much for me
And surc enough. Joe said it WAS only trav-
e!er. warn, good to tell to the marines you
:lHst know that, aboard man war ships,
there are a sort Of halfSoldcr. half sailor
clasps, called marines. who wear red coat, and
carry mu>kets; and the regular jack-t,rs
make fun OF them and call them 'grecnies "
and whenever fellow tries to quiz Jack with
very hard story, he SAYS: Delay there
now. You can just 60 and tell that to the
m,rines.O
But all that has nothing to do with Round
the-word Joes chameleon, which, as said
before, wa. 4 kind of lizard, a sort of eight
inch crocodile. Joe kept him in cage, all
the same as though he had been a canary
bird; and, indeed, the kitmudcar, and the
khansumah CHATS the head WAITER, and the
thcarrhs CHOSE are the hc-chamh ermail,) }.
and the brts:ies Chose are the Brid.ets. only
they are men, that do the scruhbing about
the house). all declared that the chameleon
rped and sang VIXEN the fiiric, were ont and
that If You lay awake and cooked up your ears.
could hear him fairly splitting his throat. like
nightingale. But Joe say. that was only
another yarn for the marines and he told the
Ilindoos they might as well try to make him
believe that his old shoes whistled every
eclipse. Kounl-the world Joe is mighty
cute boy, tell YOU
Well, Joe had his chameleon in cage,
hanging from the ceiling, to keep the pocr
helpless creature safe from the rats, and the
great red ants which are so terrible in India
The cage had one small perch and there the
stupid.ugly thing stuck and stuck. and stuck,
from Monday morning till Saturday night.
never moving. unless somebody stirred it up
with straw. Ii had great claw. to is Zee.
like bird. and it had pr"hen.iIe tail, Ike
some kinds of monkeys-that is. tail to
grasp thing. with and Joe saws. when once
i: got a good hold or the perch with tina.
same tail, il WAS as bal d, pulling i. ont by ;
the roots to get it awav II was covered .ll .
over with tiny scales that re>emhsl grains .
or small warts; its head wa, very long, and
it, sides were very thin, and its back was
sharp and ridsy.
But its ewes. and its skin, and its tongue
we're three such funny things; if Round-the
world Joe had not seen it all with Ii, ewes,
would net have believed it. First of all his
r."pers stuck on, OF it. head Il forgot to tell
YOU it had not any ear ever 80 far and were
covered with skin. so that Joe could only see
szc Of d pms head, in the middle. And then.
i; could move its ewes different vavs at the
told me that and how did want 70 sea
lizard that could look up in your face with
that could see the tip Of is tongue and the
tip of ito TAI at the same time.
When you stirred it up with straw or
feather. Joe saws, it would make rs if it were
gon. to move tina. is it would get one foot
raised n an hour or 90: and if Won had no.
thing else % DO. an'l could have your dinner
brought 20 YOU. and wait. perhaps Won would
see it put il, foot down again. pretty nearly in
The same plare, in the course Of the day; and
40 YOU could poke it along with your straw
=, ,f
tell the honest truth, think Joe exagverates
that little.
Bu, there was one thing Joe's chameleon
could do quick and fast: and that was, change
co.or-or, rather, great many colors. Joe
eays If you'll just blow some soap bubbles with
apipe, and watch them rs they float away in
the sun. you will have better idea oft than
| could give YOU if | were to take three whole
numbers Of the Schoolfelow to describe il in.
Still. it was only when chameleon was excl
tex in some way-as, for instance, by being
stirred up again, OF put out in the sunshine.
where he drank in the warm rave through
his skin a. a man would drink wine-that he
diria:e,. III, accomplishments in this line
Then. small rsinbows would come ont on him
al: 20 in again, Ike bushes on the cheeks
OF modest little girls; or red, orange. yellow.
green. blue, indigo, and violet. would break
o., al! over him il spots, like the prick!y
heat oaIy if yoa tried 20 pat the point of a
pin down on re-! sros, j: w"nld BE- all the
other colors before you could eaten il.
All cd In,. " bat WA the usa of that LIE