THE CAIMAN. 147 



the shore birds and Crocodiles. Millions of ibis, herons, cranes, 

 and cormorants wade into the water in pursuit of these fish. 

 In the deepest portions vast quantities of these imprisoned fish 

 accumulate, and these parts are known in the country as the Alli- 

 gators' holes. Thither these reptiles crowd, pressing one against 

 the other, and they soon thoroughly clear it of the fish which 

 lately were in such dense crowds. As evaporation proceeds and the 

 marshes gradually dry up, the fish are more and more exposed to 

 their voracious enemies. The Alligators pursue and devour them 

 in the water, whilst the ibis destroys those which seek the banks 

 for refuge. Alligators fish chiefly during the night. In the 

 hours of darkness and obscurity they assemble in large herds, 

 chase the fish before them, driving them into some retired creek, 

 where they rejoice their hearts at the expense of the unfortunate 

 finny tribes, which they force into their widely opened mouths by 

 a lateral movement of their tails. On these occasions the clash- 

 ing of their jaws may be heard at the distance of a mile. 

 Alligators are found by thousands in Mexican waters, and nearly 

 all North American rivers to the south of them. In the beautiful 

 transparent waters of Lake Claro they abound, and are without 

 difficulty seen by the naked human eye. Here they are so closely 

 pressed one against the other that they resemble a raft of trees 

 recently felled, and the resemblance is further increased by the 

 colour of their backs and the bark of a newly-felled tree being 

 identical. In this united and immovable condition, while waiting 

 for their prey, the approach of a boat is disregarded ; but they 

 rush with avidity at everything animate which either falls or is 

 thrown into the lake. Many children of poor negro women 

 become a prey to the Caiman in this locality. They rarely, how- 

 ever, pursue men, yet they would not hesitate to devour them if 

 their imprudence has placed them close to their terrible jaws. 



The natives of Mexico hunt the Caiman. When they meet an 

 isolated individual asleep, they throw a lasso round its body, and 

 when secured, gag it. After this operation, the victim's career 

 is terminated by hammering on his head. There is another means 

 which the Indians use to capture the Caiman. They provide them- 

 selves with four pieces of hard wood about a foot long, and as thick 

 as a man's finger r and pointed at each end ; round these they tie 



L2 



