YOUNG ALLIGATORS. 289 



"anona." The taste is sweet, and the fruit is wholesome: it is 

 full of seeds, like the custard-apple. 



On the 28th we slept at a spot on the right bank from which 

 had just emerged two broods of alligators. We had seen many 

 young ones as we came up, so this seems to be their time of 

 coming forth from the nests, for we saw them sunning them- 

 selves on sand-banks in company with the old ones. We made 

 our fire in one of the deserted nests, which were strewed all over 

 with the broken shells. At the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken 

 out of one such nest alone. They are about the size of those of 

 a goose, only the eggs of the alligator are of the same diameter 

 at both ends, and the white shell is partially elastic, from having 

 a strong internal membrane and but little lime in its composi- 

 tion. The distance from the water was about ten feet, and there 

 were evidences of the same place having been used for a similar 

 purpose in former years. A broad path led up from the water 

 to the nest, and the dam, it was said by my companions, after 

 depositing the eggs, covers them up, and returns afterward to 

 assist the young out of the place of confinement and out of the 

 egg. She leads them to the edge of the water, and then leaves 

 them to catch small fish for themselves. Assistance to come 

 forth seems necessary, for here, besides the tough membrane of 

 the shell, they had four inches of earth upon them ; but they do 

 not require immediate aid for food, because they all retain a 

 portion of yolk, equal to that of a hen's egg, in a membrane in 

 the abdomen, as a stock of nutriment, while only beginning inde- 

 pendent existence by catching fish. Fish is the principal food 

 of both small and large, and they are much assisted in catching 

 them by their broad, scaly tails. Sometimes an alligator, view- 

 ing a man in the water from the opposite bank, rushes across the 

 stream with wonderful agility, as is seen by the high ripple he 

 makes on the surface caused by his rapid motion at the bottom ; 

 but in general they act by stealth, sinking underneath as soon as 

 they see man. They seldom leave the water to catch prey, but 

 often come out by day to enjoy the pleasure of basking in the 

 sun. In walking along the bank of the Zouga once, a small one, 

 about three feet long, made a dash at my feet, and caused me to 

 rush quickly in another direction ; but this is unusual, for I nev- 

 er heard of a similar case. A wounded leche, chased into any of 



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