ALLIGATORS. 511 



and tumbled down the bank into the water, the sparks of the 

 brands hurled at him flying from his back and sides. Not- 

 withstanding this, lie the next night repeated his visit. 



The alligator, in its daring attempts to seize human beings, 

 does not always come off victorious. An Indian and his son 

 had gone down to the water, when the boy, whilst bathing, 

 was seized by the thigh, and carried under. The father, 

 rushing down the bank, plunged after the rapacious beast, 

 which was diving away with its victim. He followed it un- 

 armed, and overtaking the creature, thrust his thumb into its 

 eye, and forced it to release its booty. The lad, who was 

 present when the story was told, exhibited the marks of the 

 alligator's teeth in his thigh. 



On another occasion an alligator was shot by one of the 

 passengers on board a steamer, and hauled up on deck. When 

 the knife was applied, it showed that it still possessed some 

 sparks of life, by lashing out its tail, and opening its 

 enormous jaws, sending the crowd of bystanders flying in all 

 directions. It is extraordinary how tenacious the creature is 

 of life, and what a prodigious amount of battering it may re- 

 ceive and still live. 



Fortunately for other animals, the young alligators have 

 numerous enemies, even the males of their own kind occasion- 

 ally gobbling them up ; while they are terribly persecuted by 

 wild beasts and birds of prey, — -the latter esteeming their soft 

 bodies delicate morsels, and frequently pouncing down into 

 their midst and carrying them off. 



The alligator, far from being a silent animal, as is gener- 

 ally supposed, makes a hideous noise at times, bellowing with 

 so singular a cadence and loud a din, that he can even out- 

 roar the jaguars and mycetes. 



