Alligators of Guiana. 305 



carcass in the sun, his enemy often encounters him ; on the 

 contrary, if the tiger is seen swimming, the cayman plunges in 

 after him, and pulls him under the water. The caymans, how- 

 ever, usually watch their prey in the water, submersing the 

 whole body except the snout and eyes, which are prominent. 



A terrible encounter ensues when the cayman and camaiduor, 

 or great water serpent, meet. Their tumbling and splashing 

 may be heard at a great distance. The serpent, when they 

 meet on the brink of the water, avoiding the enormous jaws of 

 the cayman, rapidly throws itself about his body, is often un- 

 twisted in the struggle, lashing the water with tremendous vio- 

 lence, and returns like lightning to the g-rijje, till he completely 

 squeezes his antagonist to death, unless the cayman succeeds in 

 getting his jaws to bear upon him, in which case the battle is 

 quickly decided. Mr James Fraser, being in the river Waieny, 

 on a tour to the Orinooko, in 1826, heard some loud noises, seem- 

 ingly like the discharge of great guns at a distance ; and all his 

 Indian attendants said it was caused by the tail of a caraudi 

 thrashing the water in a battle with the cayman. 



The porpess is the natural enemy and entire master of the 

 cayman, so much so, indeed, that the natives enter the water 

 without fear when the tonina (porpess) is in sight. It attacks 

 the cayman wherever they meet. The cayman is driven into 

 the water by other enemies, as the tiger ; but it is made to 

 scamper ashore by the porpess. The ideas of the ancients re- 

 specting the dolphin's attachment to man, seem to be in some 

 measure realized in this species of delphinus. It is well known 

 that they accompany ships to considerable distances, as does the 

 shark, but with different motives. This is doubtless a distinct 

 species from the common porpess or the D. Phocaena of natura- 

 lists, Phokaina of Aristotle. We even saw them in the Rio 

 Maou and the Parima, whence they must make a journey of 

 many hundred miles to reach the ocean. 



Two caymans in combat make a dreadful noise, standing up 

 chopping together their jaws, tumbling down, and thrashing the 

 water with great violence. 



An instance is related of an Indian caught by a cayman at 

 the Lake of Marawareta, procuring his release by having the 



