Ch. XII.] ALLIGATOES. 193 



of risk in wadiag nearly up to the neck in these waters, arid 

 the iaformation I received concerning alligators did not 

 make me feel more secure. One of the residents assured 

 me he had frequently seen alligators in the bay as he rode 

 by on horseback, their noses just appearing above water; 

 and it is ia the records of the place, that not long' siace a 

 man, who went down at night to wash his rice-tia at the 

 water's edge, was carried off by one of these monsters. On 

 another occasion an alligator seized a woman near this spot, 

 but her dress getting round its head impeded its move- 

 ments, so that the cries of the woman bringing assistance, 

 it was seized and killed. The long extremity of its nose 

 had been broken off iu a former encounter. Another alli- 

 gator killed here was found to have a digested ball in his 

 stomach, consisting of the body of a man, the bones all 

 broken, and the clothes all rolled up with the flesh ia a 

 scarcely distiuguishable mass. HappUy I never was troubled 

 by a visit from these unceremonious gentry, though the 

 thoughts of them seldom left my mind quite free. 



The Mollusca found on these reefs are not numerous, 

 although a great many species may be obtained by making 

 excursions from Labuan, as a central point, to the various 

 small islands within reach. These include no less than 37 

 Cones and 36 species of the beautiful genus Cyprsea. None, 

 however, of the more rare and valuable species are included 

 in this list, though several are highly interesting. Olives 

 crawl about the sand, leaving tracks by which it is easy to 

 discover their hiding-places ; they are of several species, the 

 most common being OHva acuminata and 0. maura. In a 

 part of the coast where a small stream runs out, a black, 

 muddy patch is formed, occupied by himdreds of holes of 

 Gelasimi. It is an uninviting-looking spot, but a number 



