HUMBOLDT'S NOTES. 407 



hearth, and there bask himself till sufficiently warmed 

 by the fire, and then return to his proper element in 

 the tub." 



To return to the communications of Mr. Hill : 



After alluding to the specimens of Loricata preserved 

 in the Jamaica Society's Museum, and to the various 

 living individuals which had fallen under his own ob- 

 servation, — as all exhibiting the characteristics of 

 true Crocodiles, not Alligators, — he thus proceeds : 



" The Saurians of this genus in the Rio Apure 

 noticed by Humboldt as exceedingly numerous, 

 being seen by five and six at a time, he describes as 

 'real Crocodiles, not Alligators or Caymans, with 

 feet dentelated on the outer edge like those of the 

 Nile.' As he measured two dead individuals, one 

 17 ft. 9 in. long, and the other 23 ft., with their 

 swimming powers so remarkably indicated, they must 

 be formidable monsters. It is on the occasion of 

 noticing the animals of the Rio Apure, that he de- 

 scribes what may be considered the characteristic 

 movement of these reptiles. ' The motions of these 

 animals,' he says, ' are abrupt and rapid when they 

 attack an object, although they move very slowly 

 when not excited. In running, they make a rust- 

 ling noise, which seems to proceed from their scales, 

 and appear higher on their legs than when at rest, 

 at the same time bending the back. They generally 

 advance in a straight- line, but can easily turn when 

 they please. They swim with great facility, even 

 against the most rapid current.' On another occa- 

 sion, when the same traveller mentions that even in 

 the streets of Angostura, when the Orinoco inundates 



