CHAPTER XIV. 



REPTILES. 



ALLIGATORS. 



LONG tlic river-banks, in every igarape, stream, and 

 j[)ool, the hideous and i-avenous alligator lurks for 

 its prey. It is greatly dreaded Tjy tlic natives for 

 its treacheiy and cunning, numbers falling victims to its 

 powerful jaws. The largest, the jacare-uassu, or great cay- 

 man, is often found from fifteen to twenty feet long, and of 

 enormous bulk. 



There is a smaller species, the jacari-tinga, which has a 

 long slender muzzle, and black Imiided tail. This, when full- 

 grown, is about five feet long. 



A still smaller one exists, said to be found only in shallow 

 creeks. It does not attain, when full-grown, a length of more 

 than two feet. Its eggs are rather larger than those of a 

 hen, and oval in shape, the shell having a rough, hard sur- 

 face. So numerous are they, that Bates observes "it is scarcely 

 exaggeration to say that the waters of the Solimoens are a,s 

 well stocked with alligators in the dry season, as a ditch in 

 England is in summer with tad[)olcs." 



