304 THE ALLIGATOE. 



Many tales have been told by travellers of the 

 ferocity of the American alligator ; but of these stories 

 few have been authenticated. A man dipping up water 

 from a lake has had his arm seized and crushed in the 

 jaws of a half-grown alligator; and children, playing 

 by the side of shallow streams, sometimes fall victims 

 to the rapacity of the reptile, but it is generally harm- 

 less. In some parts of the South, women and children 

 will fearlessly bathe where the alligators are known to be 

 numerous, exhibiting no fear whatever beyond splashing 

 the water with their hands to drive the reptiles away. A 

 hunter, while chasing a wounded deer in the neighbour- 

 hood of Baton Rouge, suddenly found himself in the 

 midst of a number of allig-ators, which seemed to reg^ard 

 him with the utmost indifference ; not only manifesting 

 no desire to devour him, but also appearing to have no 

 idea of fear. 



Although the head of the alligator appears at first sight 

 most hideous and repulsive, it is in reality wonderfully 

 made, and has many beauties in it that would escape the 

 notice of the casual observer. Its eves, which resemble 

 those of a Chinaman in shape, are really splendid, and 

 when poets are tired of their old similes, they may 

 find a new one in the eyes of the alligator. The con- 

 struction of the jaws is wonderful. Their extreme 

 length would render them very liable to fracture if 

 they were of solid and continuous bone, as is the case in 

 most animals. But, to provide against such accidents, 



