384 Ichthyolcgical Papers. [ M ay , 



efforts of the uninitiated angler, swallowing his hooks by the 

 handful and parting his tackle as if it were pack thread. 



This remarkable fish is familiar to almost every resident in the 

 South, and yet but little is known generally of its habits and his- 

 tory. His terrific jaws, his flinty scales, and the extreme diffi- 

 culty of hooking him, the ease with which he destroys the 

 ordinary tackle used by the angler, added to his worthlessness 

 for the table, render him an object of terror to the fisherman, 

 which added to his fierce and repulsive appearance, is sure to ob- 

 tain for him, should he by any means fall into his hands, such 

 treatment as liis namesake, the alligator, might expect from the 

 huntsman whose dog had been devoured by the monster. 



Possessed of an exceedingly ravenous appetite, he snaps at and 

 devours every thing which comes in Ins reach, and yet there are 

 times when the most dainty morsel will scarcely tempt him. 

 Early in the morning the water is continually broken by him as 

 he rises to seize the floating insects, or small fish swimming upon 

 the surface ; but, as the sun ascends, if on the feed, he takes to the 

 deeper water, slowing moving along in search of his prey, and 

 occasionally rising and rolling on the surface in sport. Tired of 

 the chase, he may be seen basking his huge and motionless form 

 in some sunny nook, the shoals of mullet frisking and frollick- 

 ing around him unheeded. Rapid, current or pool, the clear 

 running spring stream, the sluggish bayou, the pond, or the salt 

 creek, all are familiar to him, but he particularly affects the deep 



clear and dashing current. Stand on the little bar formed by the 

 junction of the last mentioned, and you may see him pass and 

 repass, plunging into the current after a small fish, diving under 

 the rooty bank, and rolling in fun on the top of the dark bayou, 

 and snapping his jaws together, as if the livelong day were only 

 created for him to rollick in. The ringing steel launched from 

 the sturdy arm of the fisherman glances harmlessly from his more 

 than steel-clad body, the river robber rolls his huge form through 

 the deep river, now rising like a porpoise, and now with noise- 

 less movement of a cat swimming slowly to the shallows, 

 stealing along through the bright green leaves of the beautiful 

 nelumbium to surprise the sunny perch or sleeping pike, or 

 suddenly attracted by a passing shoal of sardine or mullet, he 

 dashes like light to their center, his capacious and horrid jaws 



