CHAPTER XI. 



PONDEROUS REPTILES 



Old Mose and Number Two, Alligators; 

 Buster, Tortoise. 



THAT there is an unreasonable prejudice 

 against all "Reptiles," with an equally 

 exaggerated fear of them, I know only too 

 well, because, for a very long time, I suffered 

 severely from both these complaints. But if 

 anyone will only take the trouble to study 

 the reptilia ever so little — the many interest- 

 ing forms and colorings, the various habits 

 and characteristics, not forgetting the most 

 interesting part of all, the part which the 

 reptiles of the past have played in the evo- 

 lution of the birds of the present day — one 

 will discover here a far greater and wider 

 field, in many ways, than that offered by the 

 more populous wild animals, such as lions, 

 tigers, and elephants. 



It does not appear as if an alligator can be 

 particularly interesting, still less an old, slow, 



