Ch. IX. SOUTH AMERICA. 187 



way above Guayaquil, the diftance will not admit 

 their being i>rought to that city. 



The increaítí of fifh in this river is greatly hin- 

 dered by the prodigious numbers of alligators, an 

 amphibious creature, living both in the rivers and the 

 adjacent plains, though it is not often known to go 

 far from the banks ot the river. When tired with 

 ñfhing, they leave the water, to bafk themfelves in the 

 fun, and. then appear more like logs of half-rotten 

 wood thrown afhore by the current, than living crea- 

 tures; but upon perceiving any velFel near them, 

 they immediately throw themfelves into the water. 

 Some are of lb monftrous a fize as to exceed five 

 -yards in length. During the time they He balking oa ' 

 the fhore, they keep their huge mouths v^ide open, 

 till filled with mofchitos, flies, and other infeóis, 

 when they fuddenly ihut their jaws and fwallovv their 

 prey. Whatever may have been written with regard 

 to the ficrcenefs and rapacity ot this animal, I and alJ 

 our company know, from experience, they avoid a 

 man, and, on the approach of any one, immediately 

 plunge into the water. Their whole body is covered 

 with leales impenetrable to a mufkct-ball, unlefs it 

 happens to hit them in the belly near the forelegs; 

 the only part vulnerable. 



The alligator is an oviparous creature. The fe- 

 male makes a large hole in the fand near the brink 

 of a river, and there depofits her eggs ; which are as 

 white as thofe of a hen, but much more folid. She 

 generally lays about a hundred, continuing in the 

 fame place till they are all depofited, which is about 

 a day or two. She then covers them with the fand ; 

 and, the better to conceal them, rolls herfelf not only 

 over her precious depofitura, but to a conliderable 

 diflance. After this precaution, ihe returns to the 

 water till natural inftinét informs her that it is time 

 to deliver her young from their confinement ; when 

 ihe comes to the fpot, followed by the male, and 



tearing ■ 



