x DISTRIBUTION HABITS 447 



Their home is the water, in which they pass the night, their 

 time of hunting. The prey is either patiently watched or 

 stalked, and nothing falls amiss. Water-birds are seized by the 

 beast, which rises imperceptibly from below. Some species are 

 said to make use of their powerful tails for hitting the victim 

 and even jerking it into the mouth. The strength of their jaws 

 is enormous, and they do not let go what they have seized, unless, 

 in the case of a man, he has the presence of mind and the 

 opportunity to dig his fingers into the monster's eyes whilst 

 being dragged down. 



In the morning they crawl on to sandbanks, or on to logs 

 of wood, which they closely resemble, in order to bask, mostly 

 in such a position that on the slightest alarm they can plunge 

 into the water. For this reason they frequently make a half 

 circle before they settle down to rest, with the heads turned 

 towards the river. There they bask all day long, apparently 

 fast asleep, often with gaping mouths. But their sense of 

 hearing and of sight is sharp, and they learn from experience, 

 old individuals being by far the most wary. Commercially the 

 skins are now of considerable value. The flesh is white, and is 

 tolerable eating but for the combination of fishy and musky 

 odour, which, although faint, is not to everybody's liking. 



All the species have a voice, a kind of loud, short bark or 

 croak, heard at night and when angered. The female lays 

 several dozen or even three score white, oval, hard-shelled eggs in 

 the sand, well out of the reach of moisture ; and some species 

 construct an elaborate kind of nest. The mother watches it, 

 takes care of and fights for her offspring, numbers of which 

 fall an easy prey to large storks, fishes, and to the stronger 

 members of their own kind. 



In the cooler countries they hibernate in the ground ; and in 

 hot countries, which are subject to drought, some kinds aestivate 

 in the hardened mud ; or they migrate. When during a pro- 

 longed drought 011 the island of Marajo, at the mouth of the 

 Amazon, the swamps and lakes were dried up, the Alligators 

 migrated towards the nearest rivers, and many perished in the 

 attempt. On one farm were found 8500 dead, and at the end 

 of Lake Arary more than 4000. Such occurrences in bygone 

 times may perhaps explain the masses of bones found here and 

 there in a fossil state. 



