^2 CLARKE. [Vol. V. 



and ponds, lying with only the tip of the nose and the eyes 

 exposed ; or lying on an exposed place on the bank where the 

 grass and other plants are beaten down, and the black rich mud 

 of the river bank is smoothed by the repeated movements of 

 the alligators in climbing up and down. There they bask in the 

 sunlight until disturbed by the hunter or the desire for food. 

 When aroused, they make for the bottom, and I have never 

 waited long enough to see one return, unless he were vigorously 

 stimulated with a long pole. They frequently dig a cave for 

 themselves in the bottom of the pond or stream, or in the bank 

 beneath the water. Oftentimes one can start them out of the 

 cave by using a pole ; but if very obstinate, the hunters dig them 

 out with spades. As the water decreases in the streams and 

 ponds with the summer heat, the alligators travel to the larger 

 bodies of water. During the breeding season, in late May, 

 throughout June, and extending into July somewhat, the males 

 are very active, wandering about to various ponds and rivers in 

 search of the females. Fierce battles are said to take place 

 during this time between the excited males; and the mutilated 

 specimens that one sees is weighty evidence for the truth of this 

 assertion. It is not very unusual to find a part of the tail gone, 

 or one of the limbs mutilated, or taken off close to the body. 

 One individual had been so bitten and lacerated on the side, 

 that a coil of the intestine was visible through the peritoneum 

 moving with peristaltic action. It is in the breeding season 

 also that their bellowing is mostly heard, and more in the night 

 than during the day. I have frequently heard them, while lying 

 in the swamps at night, when they were in ponds fully a mile 

 distant. 



The largest specimen I saw measured twelve feet in length ; 

 and none of the many hunters and other natives of Florida I 

 have met have seen any longer than thirteen feet. Several of 

 the older hunters, however, were very positive that alligators 

 sixteen and seventeen feet in length had been seen and killed 

 by men whom they knew in the generation before them. All 

 the hunters agree that it is only the males that acquire the 

 great size ; no one had ever seen a female that measured over 

 eight feet, and the majority are not over seven. This agrees 

 with my own observations. The male has a heavier, more pow- 

 erful head, and, during the breeding season especially, is more 



