North Otago (Oamaru) Times - 27 October 1872 page 3
Catlin wrote a book entitled “Shut your Mouth” in order to prove how dangerous it was to sleep with your mouth open. The Maories also inculcate this warning, as they say that if a person sleeps in the open air with their mouth unclosed, there is a strong probability of lizards taking advantage of the opening and going down the sleeper’s throat, causing divers and sundry distressing conditions of the body. Pakehas seldom swallowed this idea, let alone the lizards, but strange as it may seem, a woman in Wanganui named Devalion, wife of the bell-ringer, actually vomited a living lizard out of her mouth last week. The following are the particulars of this most extraordinary occurrence: on the 6th of September (Friday last), the woman in question felt an acute pain in her side, and took some gin to alleviate it. Soon after drinking the gin she felt ill and inclined to vomit, which she eventually did, and to her intense surprise and disgust saw that she had thrown up a living reptile, which on closer inspection proved to be a lizard nearly four inches in length. The reptile only lived a few seconds after its expulsion and had lost its tail in the process, so that it probably measured fully five inches before being deprived of its caudal appendage. The lizard has the appearance of having two heads, owing to the loss of its tail, and is of a light brown colour. The poor woman, whose stomach so mysteriously became the abode of so unusual a tenant, does not know how the reptile got to where it did, nor how long it remained there, but she states she still has some more of the disgusting animals in her stomach, and declares she can feel them moving about whenever she drinks anything, particularly gin, of which they seem specially in dread.
From National Library of New Zealand - Papers Past websiteMary Devalion was my great-great-great-grand-mother, born Mary Butterley, in Dublin.
Thanks for this one, Dad.
1 comment:
Patrick: You blog's of great interest to me for a personal reason. Your 3xgreat-grandmother Mary Butterley was the wife of George Devalion, who was the son of my 3xgreat-grandfather Thomas and brother of my 2xgreat-grandfather, also Thomas. The family name was actually Devaliant, but it was written in many forms, including Devalien, De Vaillant and Devalion. They were the descendents of French Huguenots, but by the mid-1800s were living in abject poverty in the East End of London. George and Mary, having had at least two children die very young, were brave enough to escape terrible conditions and emigrate to New Zealand with their remaining daughter, Rosanna, who I assume was your 2xgreat-grandmother. They arrived in Wellington on December 20, 1867 on the ship "Wild Duck." I've gleaned these details, and more, through painstaking research into my family history, which hasn't been easy because of the many spellings of the name. If you'd like to have my files, I'd be happy to send them to you and would also love to know anything else you can tell me about George and Mary. Can you email me?
Pat Barry
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