THE CAYMAN. 



49 



gination, the movements of the cayman on 

 the banks of the Essequibo, after the dry season 

 has set in. 



I once fell in with a fry of young caymans 

 on dry land near the river Essequibo. They 

 were about a foot in length, and they twisted 

 and turned in all directions with the agility of 

 rabbits. One of them got entangled in the 

 weeds. It fought fiercely before we succeeded 

 in capturing it, and Daddy Quashi had it for 

 his supper. 



Crocodile is the eastern name, and cayman 

 or alligator the western name for this huge 

 lizard. 



It is now high time to reject the many 

 fabulous accounts of the crocodile. Their 

 shedding tears, and their devouring the young 

 ones as soon as hatched, are inventions only for 

 the nursery fire-side. 



Master Swainson's assertion that the crocodile 

 ? conveys its food to some hole at the edge of 

 the water, where it is suffered to putrefy before 

 it is devoured," may suit an infant school, but 

 it will be rejected with a smile of contempt by 

 any one who has paid the least attention to 

 the anatomy of the crocodile's head. The 



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