290 ALLIGATORS. 



the lagoons in the Barotse valley, or a man or dog going in for the 

 purpose of bringing out a dead one, is almost sure to Tbe seized, 

 though the alligators may not appear on the surface. When em- 

 ployed in looking for food they keep out of sight ; they fish chief- 

 ly by night. When eating, they make a loud, champing noise, 

 which when once heard is never forgotten. 



The young, which had come out of the nests where we spent 

 the night, did not appear wary ; they were about ten inches long, 

 with yellow eyes, and pupil merely a perpendicular slit. They 

 were all marked with transverse slips of pale green and brown, 

 half an inch broad. When speared, they bit the weapon savage- 

 ly, though their teeth were but partially developed, uttering at 

 the same time a sharp bark like that of a whelp when it first be- 

 gins to use its voice. I could not ascertain whether the dam de- 

 vours them, as reported, or whether the ichneumon has the same 

 reputation here as in Egypt. Probably the Barotse and Bayeiye 

 would not look upon it as a benefactor ; they prefer to eat the 

 eggs themselves, and be their own ichneumons. The white of the 

 egg does not coagulate, but the yolk does, and this is the only part 

 eaten. 



As the population increases, the alligators will decrease, for 

 their nests will be oftener found ; the principal check on their 

 inordinate multiplication seems to be man. They are more sav- 

 age and commit more mischief in the Leeambye than in any oth- 

 er river. After dancing long in the moonlight nights, young men 

 run down to the water to wash off the dust and cool themselves 

 before going to bed, and are thus often carried away. One won- 

 ders they are not afraid ; but the fact is, they have as little sense 

 of danger impending over them as the hare has when not actually 

 pursued by the hound, and in many rencounters, in which they es- 

 cape, they had not time to be afraid, and only laugh at the cir- 

 cumstance afterward : there is a want of calm reflection. In 

 many cases, not referred to in this book, I feel more horror now 

 in thinking on dangers I have run than I did at the time of their 

 occurrence. 



When we reached the part of the river opposite to the village 

 of Manenko, the first female chief whom we encountered, two of 

 the people called Balunda, or Balonda, came to us in their little 

 canoe. From them we learned that Kolimbota, one of our party, 



