crocodile's maternal care. 403 



thick underwood, to avoid the predatory visits of the 

 father. In this season of care and of watchfulness 

 over them, she is ferocious, daring, and morose, 

 guarding with inquietude her young wherever they 

 wander. She turns when they turn, and by whining 

 and grunting, shows a particular solicitude to keep 

 them in such pools only as are much too shallow for 

 the resort of the full-grown reptile. When I was in 

 Yasica, a river district of that name, as many as forty 

 had been discovered in one of these secret resorts ; 

 but in half an hour, when the boys who had found 

 them out returned to visit their hiding-place, they saw 

 only the traces of the coming and going of the watch- 

 ful parent who had led them away to some further 

 and safer retreat. In this period of their helplessness, 

 the mother feeds them with her masticated food, dis- 

 gorging it out to them as the dog does to its pups. 

 In general it is rarely seen otherwise than crouch- 

 ing with its belly to the earth, and crawling with a 

 curvilinear motion ; but at this time it may be ob- 

 served firmly standing on its feet. This is the atti- 

 tude of anger and attack ; and its spring is quick, 

 a sort of agile leap, by no means short in distance. 

 During all this time of protection and dependence, 

 is heard the voice, by which the young makes its 

 wants known, and the parent assures its offspring of 

 its superintendence. It is the yelping lark of the 

 dog, and the whining of the puppy. 



" From all these facts I take it that when the 

 sound of the dog's bark is heard, the Caymans press 

 to the spot from which it issues, agitated by two 

 several passions, — the females to protect their young, 



