152 SPOTTING ADVENTURES 



the ship : we landed at the head of the bay, 

 where there were a few huts ; at the back of 

 these was an unhealthy-looking mangrove 

 swamp, where numerous alligators lived un- 

 disturbed. Taking a canoe, we paddled through 

 the mangrove bushes, which were so thick that 

 their branches mefc overhead, shutting out the 

 light of day; the water was stagnant and of 

 a deep chocolate colour, and emitted a foul 

 stench on being stirred up by the canoe. Not 

 a breath stirred the leaves, and perfect silence 

 reigned in this gloomy spot. Occasionally the 

 head of an alligator would show itself above the 

 surface, and, having " fixed " us with his wicked- 

 looking eye, as though he wondered what 

 possessed us to disturb the solitude of his 

 sanctuary, would sink slowly down again; 

 iguanas blinked at us from the branches over- 

 head, and rattlesnakes glided away through the 

 rotten underwood. We felt inclined, whilst con- 

 templating this scene, to question the monstrous 

 assertion that " only man is vile," but we found 

 that cigars and brandy were of more practical 



