CKOCODILES. 95 



have alluded, that inhabit the waters of the Llanos. The 

 largest is the true crocodile, like those of the Nile and 

 Ganges. It differs from the alligator, also common here, 

 and which resembles the species of that name found in 

 our Southern States, in having a longer and narrower head, 

 as well as in dentition. The alligator and crocodile, espe- 

 cially the latter, are the most crafty and dangerous pests of 

 all the lagoons and rivers of the Llanos. Both species are 

 known to the natives by tlie name of caiman. They are 

 oviparous animals, laying eggs, small in proportion to 

 their size, with a hard, rough shelh Their laterally com- 

 pressed tail is the great instrument of progression when 

 in water, and possesses such strength that a crocodile can 

 easily overthrow with it the canoe of the Indians, when 

 the hapless voyagers fall an easy prey to the voracious 

 monster. The wearied traveller, sleeping at night upon 

 the bank of the stream, is liable to a stroke from this pow- 

 erful appendage, which will send him reeling into the 

 water — and into the jaws of waiting crocodiles. They 

 seem to have an antipathy to attacking any thing upon 

 land, but in the water they are masters of the situation. 

 They delight in basking upon the shelving bank of the 

 stream, where they lie with gaping jaws, and motionless 

 as a log, as disgusting and horrible looking objects as 

 can well be imagined. Like the colossal anaconda, and 

 most of the' serpent-tribe of tlie Llanos, the caiman buries 

 itself in the mud, when the falling waters leave bare the 

 savannas, and spends the long, dry season in a state of 

 hibernal lethargy. LTpon the return of rains, the mois- 

 tened soil gives up its living dead, and the plains again 

 swarm with reptilian life. The Llanero hut, which has been 

 deserted by its occupants during the months of inunda- 

 tion, is sometimes said to become the hibernal quarters 

 of these inhabitants of the deluge, which, bursting their 

 2)rison v^'alls with tlie vivifying showers of spring, come 



