THE VICTORY. 313 



rently clumsy animal exercising, would suppose him 

 incapable of. This time he got so near to the alligator 

 before the tail struck him, that the blow came with but 

 half of its usual effect. The alligator was upset by the 

 charge, and before it could recover its feet, bruin had 

 grasped him round the body below the forelegs, and 

 holding him down on his back, seized one of the rep- 

 tile's legs in his mouth. The alligator was now in a 

 desperate situation ; he attempted in vain to bite, for 

 his neck was so stiff that he found it impossible to turn 

 his head round. 



^ Seized with desperation, the huge amphibious beast 

 gave a loud scream of despair ; but, being by nature a 

 warrior both ' by flood and field,' he was not yet entirely 

 vanquished. Writhing his tail in agony, he happened 

 to strike it against a small tree which grew near the 

 edge of the bayou, and aided by this purchase, he made 

 a convulsive flounder, which precipitated himself and 

 bruin, locked together, into the river. 



' The bank from which they fell was four feet high, 

 and the water below seven feet in depth. The tranquil 

 stream received the combatants with a loud splash, then 

 closed over them in silence. A volley of ascending 

 bubbles announced their arrival at the bottom, where 

 the battle ended. Presently bruin rose again, scrambled 

 up the bank, cast a glance back at the river, and then, 

 all dripping, made off to the cane-brake.' 



Another kind of alligator rarely found is the Croco- 



