THE CROCODILE. 139 



is the Alligator (A. mississippemis, Fig. 32), belonging to North 

 America, through the whole southern extent of which it is found. 

 They are gregarious, living together in large herds in the Mississippi 

 and its southern tributaries ; they are also found in the lakes and 

 marshes of Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Carolina, and even as far 

 north as thirty degrees of north latitude. Alligators do not appear 

 to leave fresh water. During winter they hibernate in the mud 

 on the margins of their haunts. In the neighbourhood of Bayou 

 Zara, on the Mississippi, vast flats of lakes and marshes stretch 

 away on either bank ; every year these reservoirs are flooded by the 

 overflow of the river, when they are visited by myriads of fishes. 

 The heat soon partly dries up these lagoons, leaving only about a 

 few feet deep of water in them, thus exposing a vast amount of prey 

 to the birds and crocodiles. Millions of ibis, herons, cranes, and 

 cormorants come here to feed. In the deepest portions vast 

 quantities of these imprisoned fish accumulate, and these are known 

 in the country as the alligators' holes. Thither these reptiles crowd, 

 and, as evaporation proceeds, soon exterminate all the captives. 

 Alligators principally feed during the night, when they are said 

 to assemble in large herds, driving the fish before them into 

 estuaries, when they force the unfortunates into their mouths by a 

 lateral movement of their tails. On such occasions the clashing of 

 their jaws may be heard at a great distance. Alligators are very 

 numerous in Mexican and Central American waters. In the beauti- 

 ful transparent waters of Lake Claro they abound, where they are so 

 closely pressed one against the other that they resemble a raft of 

 logs, the resemblance being further increased by the colour of their 

 backs being identical with the bark of a newly- felled tree. In this 

 united and motionless condition, while waiting for their prey, the 

 approach of a boat is disregarded ; but they rush with avidity at 

 everything animate which either falls or is thrown into the lake. 

 Many children of poor negro women become a prey to the alligators 

 of this locality. They rarely, however, pursue men, yet they would 

 not hesitate to do so if imprudently thrown within their power. 



The natives of Mexico, when they find an isolated alligator 

 asleep, throw a lasso round its body, and, when secured, gag it. 

 After this, the victim's career is terminated by repeated blows on the 

 head. There is another means which the Indians use to capture 

 this animal. They provide themselves with four pieces of hard 

 wood about a foot long, and as thick as a man's finger, and pointed 

 at each end ; round these they tie a cord in such a manner that, 

 supposing the cord to be an arrow, the four sticks would form the 



