Chap. IY. 
ALLIGATOR'S NEST. 
m 
water-course, where we observed, first, the old footmarks 
of a tapir, and, -soon after, on the margins of a curious 
circular hole full of muddy water, the fresh tracks of a 
Jaguar. This latter discovery was hardly made, when a 
rush was heard amidst the bushes on the top of a sloping 
bank on the opposite side of the dried creek. We 
bounded forward ; it was, however, too late, for the 
animal had sped in a few moments far out of our reach. 
It was clear we had disturbed, on our approach, the 
J aguar, whilst quenching his thirst at the water-hole. A 
few steps further on we saw the mangled remains of an 
alligator (the Jacaretinga). The head, fore-quarters, 
and bony shell were the only parts which remained ; 
but the meat was quite fresh, and there were many foot- 
marks of the J aguar around the carcase ; so that there 
was no doubt this had formed the solid part of the 
animal's breakfast. My companions now began to search 
for the alligator's nest, the presence of the reptile so far 
from the river being accountable for on no other ground 
than its maternal solicitude for its eggs. We found, in 
fact, the nest at the distance of a few yards from the 
place. It was a conical pile of dead leaves, in the middle 
of which twenty eggs were buried. These wqre of ellip- 
tical shape, considerably larger than those of a duck, and 
having a hard shell of the texture of porcelain, but very 
rough on the outside. They make a loud sound when 
rubbed together, and it is said that it is easy to find a 
mother alligator in the Ygapo forests, by rubbing 
together two eggs in this way, she being never far off, 
and attracted by the sounds. 
I put half-a-dozen of the alligator's eggs in my game- 
VOL. II. • u 
