SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT OF THE SPECIES. 205 



into the ground to a depth of two feet dug subterranean galleries by wliich it escaped. I 

 have nothing to say against this, (as I have been assured that the Caiman digs caves in which 

 they hide), though I myself have only seen the Caiman casually upon my travels. However 

 it is stated at the end of the article in question that this individual was a C. rliomhifcr later 

 presented to the Museimi of Natiu-al History at Paris. My observations show that the two 

 Cocodrilos kept at my home never dug out the shallowest cavities, neither have the inhabi- 

 tants of the Cienaga ever seen any of their dens. The Crocodrilos of the Cienaga de Zapata 

 retire as the waters recede or tlry up, to the nearby lakes, or to the deeper holes of the swamp 

 itself. Tlie females leave the water for egg laying, digging a hole or trench in the shore close 

 to the water; all the eggs are laid at one time, and are covered by the dirt taken out of the 

 trench. I have been unable to find out the time one takes to deposit her eggs, as also the 

 time of incubation, but I do know that it takes some weeks. Mr. Francisco Sauvalle gave 

 me a set containing sixty eggs, (I do not know what the maximum niunber may be) of the 

 Caiman. After a long time I tried to empty some of these eggs for my collection; upon 

 opening one of them I heard sounds from within, and when I had fully opened it I took out 

 of it an embryo, which was to all appearances ready to emerge. I firmly believed this, as it 

 tried to bite me, but upon a closer examination found that it still had a small sac of yolk 

 attached to its abdomen at the mnbilicus. I withdrew from the eggs other embryos to be 

 put into alcohol. One morning two weeks later, the remaining eggs were cracked and the 

 embryos had all been hatched at the same time. These differed from the ones I had taken 

 out, only in that these did not have the yolk attached as had the others. Two of the eggs 

 being larger than the rest I suspected that they might contain twins. I was anxious to learn 

 whether these were malformed or stuck together, or whether they were nonnal, so I opened 

 them, very carefully, longitudinally so that I might be able to keep the shells; finding within 

 the two embryos qaite normal and separated from each other. 



"The eggs measured 73 X 47 millimeters or 81 X 42 millimeters, while the double eggs 

 measured 100 X 50 milUmeters. Both extremities were aUke, the color of the egg being vitre- 

 ous white, not unlike crockery, and very hard. The Cocodrilo egg of my collection measures 

 78 X 52 millimeters. The young Caimans grow very slowly but quicker than the adults 

 or the half-grown. I have no notes as to their growth, but I have reared an alhgator from the 

 Mississippi which I received in 18CS, when newly hatched, from my friend Poey. I carried 

 him home in an empty cigar box (the 100 cigar size), and after four years he had only grown 

 to a length of thirty inches. This animal was very tame, leaving the water, upon a signal 

 given by me, to receive its food which consisted in fowl entrails and bits of beef. Its tameness 

 made it a great pet, which at the same time was the cause of its undoing, as it was stolen from 

 me. 



" Both of the Cuban species will leave the water, climbing upon a log or stone or remain- 

 ing upon the ground, bat take quickly to the water upon the approach of man. After a little 

 while they may come up some distance away, never showing but just the top of their heads, 

 that is to say, only that part from the nasal openings to the back of the two elevations on 

 each side produced by the prolonging backward of the postorbital crest. The eyes remain 

 above the surface of the water. As one approaches, the visible portion disappears under water, 

 the course of the animal being easily seen by the ripples on the surface. I have never seen 

 individuals over two and one half to three Spanish yards in lengtli in the parts of the Cienaga 

 where I have hunted them, but in an interior lagoon known as "El Tesoro" there are indi- 

 viduals sLx varas in length and perhaps longer. The Cocodrilo sixteen and a half feet long 

 whose skull I have, was killed in that lagoon. 



1 " Another notable difference between the two species is the strong musky odor of the 

 Caiman. Whenever I angered a Caiman it would swell up, at the same time a cone-shaped 



