THE COMMON ALLIGATOR. 



35 



"He hatl so frequently crossed the stream below his Imts at all times of day, and had seen 

 Crocodiles of small dimensions, that he had become, as it were, familiarized to them, and did 

 not imagine that there was any danger to be exjiected from them. One evening, at about sun- 

 do^\^l, he was wading across the river, the water of which reached above his waist. Suddenly 

 he felt himself seized by the under part of his thigh, whilst he was at the same instant dragged 

 under water. His wife was following him, and seeing him fall, slie scrambled forward to the 

 place where he had disappeared, and thus caused consitleraltle noise and splashing, which (or 

 something else, perhaps the toughness and bad flavor of the Kaffir) had the effect of making 

 the Crocodile quit his hold on the Kaffir, not, however, without tearing off a great portion of 

 the under part of his thigh. The man, with difficulty, escaped to the shore, but he remained 

 a cripple for life, unable to do more than put the toes of his foot on the ground." 



MARGINED cnOCODlLE..— CrocodUus ma/yinatus. 



We now come to the Alligators, the second family of those huge reptiles which may be 

 known, as has already been mentioned, by the lower canine teeth fitting into pits in the upper 

 jaw. They are divided into three genera, all of which are inhabitants of the New World. 

 They are indiscriminately called Alligators, Crocodiles, or Caymans, by the natives or the non- 

 zoological traveller, and there is consequently much difficulty in identifying the particular 

 species. The genus Alligator may be known by the partly -webbed toes, the outer toe being 

 free. 



The Common Alligator inhabits Northern America, and is plentifully found in the 

 Mississippi, the lakes and rivers of Louisiana and Carolina, and similar localities. It is a fierce 

 and dangerous reptile, in many of its habits bearing a close resemblance to the crocodiles, and 

 the other members of the family. 



Unlike the crocodile, however, it avoids the salt water, and is but seldom seen even near 

 the mouths of rivers, where the tide gives a brackish taste to their waters. It is mostly a fish- 

 eater, haunting those portions of the rivers where its prey most abounds, and catching them 

 by diving under a passing shoal, snapping up one or two victims as it passes through them, 

 tossing them in the air for the ])iirpose of ejecting the water which has necessarily filled its 

 mouth, catching them adroitly as they fall, and then swallowing them. Though timid,, as are 



