CROCODILES. 71 



their custom, in drunkenness and debauchery 

 ashore. Whilst in this muddled condition, one 

 of them during the hottest part of the day took it 

 into his head to go alone to the river to bathe. 

 " He was seen only by the Juiz de Paz, a feeble 

 old man who was lying in his hammock, in the 

 open verandah at the rear of his house, on the 

 top of the bank, and who shouted to the besotted 

 Indian to beware of the alligator. Before he 

 could repeat his warning the man stumbled, and 

 a pair of gaping jaws, appearing suddenly above 

 the surface, seized him round the waist and drew 

 him under water. A cry of agony, ' Ai Jesus ' 

 was the last sign made by the wretched victim. 

 The village was aroused : the young men . . . 

 seized their harpoons and hurried down to the 

 bank, but of course it was too late ; a winding 

 track of blood on the surface of the water was all 

 that could be seen. They embarked, however, 

 in montarias, determined on vengeance ; the 

 monster was traced, and when, after a short 

 lapse of time, he came up to breathe -one leg of 

 the man sticking out from his jaws was 

 despatched with bitter curses." On another 

 occasion a boy, whilst bathing, wa seized by 

 the thigh and carried under water : a cry 

 was raised which reached the lad's father, who, 

 rushing down to the bank, plunged in after 

 the monster and its victim. "It seems," says 

 Bates, " almost incredible that a man could over- 

 take and master the large Caiman in his own 

 element ; but such was the case in this instance, 

 for the animal was reached and forced to release 

 his booty by the man's thrusting his thumb into 



