CURIOUS DWELLERS OF SWAMP AND FOREST. 143 



slightly uncomfortable shock. Achilles could be wounded 

 only in the - heel, but the one vulnerable spot of the alli- 

 gator is the eye, which, cold, cruel, and relentless, is al- 

 ways on the lookout for prey. The soft parts of the 

 body, on the under-side, can scarcely be approached by an 

 enemy, and the only danger to which the}' are exposed is 

 in the waters of Guiana, where the ferocious little pirari 

 fish nips off their toes. 



3. The tail, which is but a tapering elongation of the 

 body, constituting nearly half the length of the animal, is 

 used as a weapon offensive and defensive. One fair blow 

 of the tail of an adult alligator is enough to dampen the 

 ardor of the fiercest of tigers, and to induce a meditative 

 pause on the part of the most thick-hided rhinoceros. 

 Deer and other animals, which come down to the water 

 to drink, are stunned by a blow of this enormous flail, and 

 are easily borne off into the water to appease an appetite 

 which appears to be insatiable. 



4. But if the alligator were interrogated, he would prob- 

 ably claim that he prided himself upon his jaws more than 

 anything else ; and this with good reason. Its jaw ca- 

 pacity is more largely developed than in any other animal. 

 The head is enormous, extending straight forward in a line 

 with the body and ending in a snout. It is protected by 

 the hardest of bones, and furnished with the toughest and 

 strongest of muscles. It literally splits in two from one 

 extremity to the other, the upper half being hung upon a 

 hinge, which enables it to open as freely as a pair of 

 shears. The cavity thus exposed is armed with a formida- 

 ble set of teeth, the whole constituting an apparatus ad- 

 mirably calculated to crush out all opposition when occa- 

 sion requires. The old lady, listening to the description 

 of an alligator from her sailor son, exclaimed, "Oh, la! 

 wasn't he a horrid-looking critter ?" " Well," was the re- 

 ply, "he did not have the most amiable expression in the 



