NATURAL HISTORY. 403 



to its voracity. In revenge for this treatment all nations per- 

 secuted with this pest have devised various methods of killing 

 it. The Negroes of some parts of Africa are sufficiently bold 

 and skilful to attack the Crocodile in his own element. They 

 fearlessly plunge into the water, and diving beneath the 

 Crocodile plunge the dagger with which they are armed into 

 the creature's belly, which is not protected by the coat of 

 mail that guards the other parts of its body. The usual plan 

 is to lie in wait near the spot where the Crocodile is accus- 

 tomed to repose. This is usually a sandy bank, and the 

 hunter digs a hole in the sand, and armed with a sharp 

 harpoon patiently awaits the coming of his expected prey. 

 The Crocodile comes to its accustomed spot, and is soon 

 asleep, when it is suddenly roused by the harpoon, which 

 penetrates completely through its scaly covering. The hunter 

 immediately retreats to a canoe, and hauls at the line attached 

 to the harpoon until the Crocodile is at the surface, when a 

 second harpoon is darted. The struggling animal is soon 

 wearied out, dragged to shore, and dispatched by dividing the 

 spinal chord. In order to prevent the infuriated reptile from 

 biting the cord asunder, it is composed of about thirty small 

 lines, not twisted, but only bound together at intervals of two 

 feet. 



When on land it is not difficult to escape the Crocodile, as 

 certain projections on the vertebrae of the neck prevent it from 

 turning its head to any extent. 



The eggs of this creature are very small, hardly exceeding 

 those of a goose ; numbers are annually destroyed by birds of 

 prey and quadrupeds, especially the Ichneumon. 



THE ALLIGATOR. 



The ALLIGATOR, or CAYMAN, is an inhabitant of the New 

 World, and is unpleasantly common in the rivers of North 

 America. It pursues fish with exceeding dexterity, by driving 

 a shoal of them into a creek, and then plunging amid the 

 terrified mass, and devouring its victims at its pleasure. It 

 also catches pigs, dogs, and other animals that venture too 

 close to the river. In that case, as the animal is tco large to 



