Chap. IV. ALLIGATOR'S NEST. 289 



water-course, where we observed, first, the old footmarks 

 of a tapir, and, soon after, on the margins of a curious 

 circular hole full of muddy water, the fresh tracks of a 

 Jaguar. This latter discovery was hardly made, when a 

 rush was heard amidst the bushes on the top of a sloping 

 bank on the opposite side of the dried creek. We 

 bounded forward ; it was, however, too late, for the 

 animal had sped in a few moments far out of our reach. 

 It was clear we had disturbed, on our approach, the 

 Jaguar, whilst quenching his thirst at the water-hole. A 

 few steps further on we saw the mangled remains of an 

 alligator (the Jacaretinga). The head, fore-quarters, 

 and bony shell were the only parts which remained ; 

 but the meat was quite fresh, and there were many foot- 

 marks of the Jaguar around the carcase ; so that there 

 was no doubt this had formed the solid part of the 

 animal's breakfast. My companions now began to search 

 for the alligator's nest, the presence of the reptile so far 

 from the river being accountable for on no other ground 

 than its maternal solicitude for its eggs. We found, in 

 fact, the nest at the distance of a few yards from the 

 place. It was a conical pile of dead leaves, in the middle 

 of which twenty eggs were buried. These were of ellipr 

 tical shape, considerably larger than those of a duck, and 

 having a hard shell of the texture of porcelain, but very 

 rough on the outside. They make a loud sound when 

 rubbed together, and it is said that it is easy to find a 

 mother alligator in the Ygapo forests, by rubbing 

 together two eggs in this way, she being never far off, 

 and attracted by the sounds. 



I put half-a-dozen of the alligator's eggs in my game- 



VOL. II. n 



