GUANA. 219 



morasses of those regions of America which lie betwixt 

 the tropics. If caught whilst young, it may, in some 

 measure, be domesticated. Dr. Brickell saw one which 

 was kept in a large pond, before the house of a planter 

 in Carolina. It was regularly fed with the entrails of 

 fowls, and with raw meat. This animal would fre- 

 quently come from the pond into the house, without 

 doing the least injury to any individual. The voice of 

 the Alligator is loud and dreadful, and its smell so 

 musky and unpleasant, as, where the animals are nu- 

 merous, to impregnate the provisions, and give them a 

 nauseous, musky taste. The flesh of the young Alligators 

 is frequently eaten by the American Indians ; and the 

 teeth of the old ones, which are as white as ivory, are 

 manufactured into various kinds of toys, and articles of 

 utility. 



The principal difference betwixt the Alligator and the 

 crocodile consists in the former being much smaller, 

 having its head and part of the neck more smooth, and 

 the snout considerably more wide and flat, as well as 

 more rounded at the extremity. 



Guana. That a creature so generally disgusting in 

 its appearance as the Guana should be in great request 

 for food, would almost exceed belief, were we not well 

 acquainted with the fact. It is hunted, by the inhabit- 

 ants of South America and the West Indies, with as 

 much avidity as game is pursued in other countries. 

 After the rainy season is past, the sportsmen go forth 

 into the woods, each armed with a stick, having a noose 

 at the extremity. As soon as they observe one of these 

 animals asleep, or basking in the sun, they endeavour 

 to slip the noose over its head. Having thus secured it, 



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