144 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



near setting, and the alligators gathered around my harbour, from all quarters; from these con- 

 siderations I concluded to be expeditious in my trip to the lagoon, in order to take some fish. Not 

 thinking it prudent to take my fusee with me, lest I might lose it overboard in case of a battle, which 

 I had every reason to dread before my return, I therefore furnished myself with a club for my 

 defence, went on board, and penetrating the first line of those which surrounded my harbour, 

 they gave way ; but being pursued by several very large ones, I kept strictly on the watch and 

 paddled with all my might towards the entrance of the lagoon, hoping to be sheltered there from 

 the multitude of my assailants; but ere I had half-way reached the place, I was attacked ou all 

 sides, several endeavoring to overset the canoe. 



"My situation now became precarious to the last degree: two large ones attacked me closely, 

 at the same instant, rushing up with their heads and part of their bodies above the water, roaring 

 terribly and belching floods of water over me. They struck their jaws together so close to my ears 

 as almost to stun me, and I expected every moment to be dragged out of the boat and instantly 

 devoured, but I applied my weapons so effectually about me, though at random, that I was so 

 successful as to beat them off a little." 1 



Writers of the present century also allude to cases of fatal attacks by Alligators; I may 

 quote one instance. Wells, writing of Lake Nicaragua in 1857, says: "Large tiberones (sharks) 

 have been captured in the lake ; and a few months previous, a woman at Virgin Bay, washing 

 on the banks, was seized and killed by an alligator." 2 Many other similar statements are on record. 

 The mass of most recent writers and investigators, however, seem inclined to regard all tales of 

 the Alligator's aggressiveness as idle fiction, and contend with one accord that he is sluggish, 

 harmless, and even timid, and that the damage which he sometimes does with tail and jaws 

 when wounded and tormented is due to aimless madness induced by pain, and not to any deliberate 

 attempt at revenge. 



The stomach of Alligators is often found to contain, in addition to its natural food, a num- 

 ber of rounded masses of hard material, large pebbles and other indigestible matter. Zoologists 

 are not agreed regarding the function of these objects, some supposing that they aid in reducing 

 other matter taken into the stomach, and others that they serve to keep the stomach distended 

 when the animal is in a state of hibernation in winter. It seems probable, however, that they are 

 swallowed by mistake for better food, or are taken down with more nutritious matter when he 

 feeds too greedily. 



MODE OF LIFE. Alligators are pre-eminently fitted for an aquatic or semi-aquatic life. In the 

 water they seem perfectly at ease, and move about with great velocity, propelling themselves by 

 powerful strokes of their broad paddle-like tails. The peculiarities of their internal structure, 

 too, are such as fit them for remaining a considerable time beneath the surface. On land, how- 

 ever, the Alligator moves slowly and with evident difficulty on account of the weight of the body 

 and the shortness of the legs. Nevertheless they come frequently to shore, being very fond of 

 sunning themselves for hours on the sandy or muddy banks of the streams they inhabit. They 

 are protected from assault while indulging in these siestas by their dull colors and their perfect 

 immobility. Holbrook states that "such Alligators as dwell in ponds and streams out of the 

 influence of tide-water, wander much further from the banks and are notuufrequeutly seen a mile 

 or more from water." 3 



This statement is confirmed in the writings of other observers. "Following the lonely track 



1 BARTRAM : Travels in East and West Florida, 1791, p. 119. 

 8 WELLS: Honduras, 1857, p. 35. 

 3 HOLBROOK, op. (At., p. 57. 



