ON REPTILES. 117 



riety of the crocodile, although differing from 

 it in many respects. In the first place they 

 make an incredibly loud and terrifying roar, 

 especially in the spring, their breeding season. 

 In the great river Amazon, where these creatures 

 abound, when hundreds are roaring at the same 

 time, it resembles thunder. Unlike the croco- 

 dile also, the female makes a nest in the shape 

 of a cone, four feet high, and four or five feet 

 In diameter, constructed of alternate layers of 

 eggs, and of mud, grass, and herbage. When 

 the young are hatched the female tends them 

 as a hen does her chickens. Their cry is like 

 the whining and barking of young puppies. 



It would appear, from various accounts, that 

 alligators are much more ferocious than croco- 

 diles; in fact, a much more dangerous reptile. 

 For instance, in one of the Manilla Islands a 

 man rode his horse across a river in a place 

 known to be frequented by an enormous alli- 

 gator. He got half way over the stream when 

 the alligator came upon him. His teeth went 

 into the saddle, which he tore from the horse, 

 while the rider tumbled over the other side into 

 the water and made for the shore. The alli- 

 gator, disregarding the horse, pursued the man, 



