A YOUNG NATURALIST, 455 



been for some time burning, when we heard a distant gun- 

 shot. 



Sumichrast returned laden with a green iguana, and Lu- 

 cien was dragging by a string a little alligator about thirty 

 inches long. 



" Look, M. L'Encuerado !" cried the boy ; " here is an alli- 

 gator or cayman, a relation of the lizards, and an enemy of 

 man. This ugly young beast has only baby-teeth, so can 

 not bite much. It feeds on fish, otters, calves, and many 

 other animals. It is an amphibious being, M. L'Encuerado, 

 a creature that lays eggs like fowls, but buries them in the 

 sand, where the sun has to hatch them ; it is a brute, too, 

 which is so fond of man that it eats him whenever it has a 

 chance. 



"Take care it does not bite you," said I to the boy; 

 " how did you manage to catch it ?" 



" I pursued it, thinking it was a big lizard ; M. Sumi- 

 chrast called out to me not to handle it, and then tied this 

 creeper round its neck." 



" You don't intend to take it away with you, I hope ?" 



" No ; it is an ill-tempered creature, and is always anx- 

 ious to use its teeth. I shall just show it to Master Job, 

 and then let it go." 



Neither Job nor his companions seemed flattered by this 

 introduction, and the boy was disappointed when he depos- 

 ited it at the water's edge ; for, instead of plunging in, as 

 he expected, it made a semicircle, and ran off towards the 

 forest* 



" Don't young alligators know how to swim ?" he asked. 



" Yes, Chanito ; but they do not go into the water till 

 they are old enough to defend themselves against the big 

 males, which would devour them." 



The sun had scarcely risen, when I saw on the shore, at 

 about ten paces from us, three monsters luxuriously stretch- 



