352 CROCODILES AND ALLIGATORS 



he slowly and cautiously approached, without even rippling the 

 surface of the water, and then curving his back, hurled his prey, 

 by a stroke of hi stall, into his wide-extended jaws. 



On the American streams, the stillness of the night is often 

 interrupted by the clacking of the Cayman's teeth, and the lash- 

 ing of his tail upon the waters. The singular and awful sound 

 of his voice can also readily be distinguished from that of all the 

 other beasts of the wilderness. It is like a suppressed sigh, 

 bursting forth all of a sudden, and so loud as to be heard above 

 a mile off. First, one emits this horrible noise ; then another 

 answers him ; and far and wide the repetition of the sound 

 proclaims that the Caymen are awake. When these hideous 

 creatures have once tasted the flesh of man, they are said, like 

 the cannibals of the Feejee Islands, to prefer it to that of any 

 animal. 



During Humboldt's stay at Angostura, a monstrous Cayman 

 seized an Indian by the leg while he was busy pushing his 

 boat ashore in a shallow lagune, and immediately dragged him 

 down into the deeper water. The cries of the unfortunate victim 

 soon attracted a large number of spectators, who witnessed; 

 the astonishing courage with which he searched in his pockety 

 for a knife. Not finding the weapon, he then seized the reptile 

 by the head, and pressed his fingers into its eyes — a method 

 which saved Mungo Park's negro from a similar fate. In this case, 

 how^ever, the monster did not let go his hold, but disappearing 

 under the surface with the Indian, came up again with him 

 as soon as he was drowned, and dragged the body to a neigh- 

 bouring island. 



" One Sunday evening," says Waterton, " some years ago, as I 

 was walking with Don Felipe de Yriarte, Grovernor of Angostura, 

 on the bank of the Orinoco — ' Stop here a minute or two, Don 

 Carlos,' said he to me, 'while I recount a sad accident. 

 One fine evening, last year, as the people of Angostura weref 

 sauntering up and down in the Alameda, I was within twenty 

 yards of this place, when I saw a large Cayman rush out of the 

 river, seize a man, and carry him down, ])efore anybody had it 

 in his power to assist him. The screams of the poor fellow were 

 terrible, as the Cayman was running off with him. He plunged 

 into the river with his prey ; we instantly lost sight of him, and 

 never saw or heard him more. ' " 



