382 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Very soon we came to a part of the river where the 

 alligators seemed to enj oy undisturbed possession. Some 

 lay basking in the sun on mudbanks, like logs of drift- 

 wood, and in many places the river was dotted with 

 their heads. The Spanish historian says that " They 

 swim with their Head above the water, gaping at what- 

 soever they see, and swallow it, whether Stick, Stone, 

 or living Creature, which is the true reason of their 

 swallowing Stones ; and not to sink to the bottom, as 

 some say, for they have no need to do so, nor do they 

 like it, being extraordinary Swimmers ; for the Tail 

 serves instead of a Rudder, the Head is the Prow, and 

 the Paws the Oars, being so swift as to catch any other 

 fish as it swims. An hundred Weight and an half of 

 fresh Fish has been found in the Maw of an Alligator, 

 besides what was digested ; in another was an Indian 

 Woman whole, with her Cloaths, whom he had swallow- 

 ed the Day before, and another with a pair of Gold 

 Bracelets, with Pearls, the Enamel gone off, and Part 

 of the Pearls dissolved, but the Gold entire." 



Here they still maintained their dominion. Accidents 

 frequently happen ; and at the Palisada Don Francisco 

 told us that a year before a man had had his leg bitten 

 off and was drowned. Three were lying together at 

 the mouth of a small stream which emptied into the 

 river. The patron told us that at the end of the last 

 dry season upward of two hundred had been counted 

 in the bed of a pond emptied by this stream. The 

 boatmen of several bungoes went in among them with 

 clubs, sharp stakes, and machetes, and killed upward of 

 sixty. The river itself, discoloured, with muddy banks, 

 and a fiery sun beating upon it, was ugly enough ; but 

 these huge and ugly monsters, neither fish nor flesh, 

 made it absolutely hideous. The boatmen called them 



