162 CENTRAL AMERICA. 



but the buoyancy of the water helps him to 

 turn and use that limb in a way he cannot do 

 on shore. 



Again, I have never known or heard of an 

 alligator biting any man, even in self-defence, 

 unless with the object of food, and when he 

 has the man at disadvantage, such as when 

 swimming, when he drags him to the bottom 

 and drowns him ; his teeth also are not made 

 for any bite, such as severing an arm or leg, 

 like those of the shark, but are well adapted 

 for holding his prey fast and tearing it in 

 pieces with the aid of his claws. Another 

 peculiarity of the alligator, w T hich reminds 

 one how the ostrich is said, when hunted, to 

 thrust his head into the sand, thinking that 

 seeing nothing he is himself unseen ; and that 

 is, when he takes to water ; let it only cover 

 him, and he be at the bottom, he thinks him- 

 self as secure as if he had twenty feet of 

 water over him. 



These few remarks on the habits of the 

 alligator, are not given as a prelude to any 

 individual risks run, during a long residence 

 in the woods, for of all wild animals, killing 

 them is the safest sport ; but as one to a 

 few anecdotes illustrating the habits of the 

 undoubted lord of the river. 



