texciTiNG Experience with Kaimans. 
28i 
rise up to its shoulders out of the water and swallow it in this position. 
Its usual food is tish, which it mostly kills with a blow of the tail 
and at the same time slings over the water to catch in its jaws.* The 
snapping of the snout and the lashing of the tail produce a loud noise 
which one can hear at a good distance particularly on a quiet night. I 
was surprised to find that the female cherishes the most devoted affec- 
tion towards her young foi' a long period and that she continually 
watches, and defends them with the greatest courage — as I came to learn 
from an experience of my own. In company Avith an Indian I went one 
day along the lake-like bay of AAvaricuru to shoot fish with bow and 
arro\\'. My attention being drawn to a peculiar, cry very like that of 
young cats, I thought I was getting close to the lair of some tiger-cat 
when my comjianion, pointing to the water, shouted out " Young 
kaimans." The sounds proceeded from under the limb of a tree Avhich, 
owing to the washing away of the earth around its roots, had bent over 
tlie water in a horizontal direction, until its branches were touching it. 
We carefully slid along the trunk as far as the top, when beneath me 
in the shade I saw a shoal of li foot-long young brood. As wd were only 
about three feet over the water, it was an easy matter for the Indian to 
shoot one of the baby animals with an arrow and to haul it struggling 
and squalling out of the water. At the same moment a large kaiman, 
the mother, who, without our seeing her. must have been watching us 
for some time, bobbed up among the branches under our feet to defend 
her youngster, and at the same time kicked up a frightful noise. T 
know nothing with which exactly to compare the awful row. It was 
not the roar of a bull or of a jaguar, or of any other creature known 
to me, but a mixture of this and something that chilled my very 
marrow bones. ' The noise had soon igatheiled other kaimans beneath us, 
that faithfully supported the angered mother while she repeatedly arose 
shoulder high out of the water to try and drag us off our footing. Ey 
dangling the arrow with his struggling victim in front of her, my 
companion increased the mother's rage still further. When wounded 
by one of our arroAvs she drew back a moment into the water, but 
quickly bobbed up again and renewed the attack with doubled fury. The 
hitherto smooth water was churned into a mass of foaming wave, owing 
to its being lashed with the bent tail, and I must admit that ray pulse 
started throbbing twice as fast at the i-eptile's daring, of which up to 
now I liad had no conception, and more particularly so on recognising 
close beside me a; large ants' nest the occupants of which, becoming 
somewhat restless over the disturl)ance, kept crawling over our hands 
and feet. A single sli]i Avould have made one or the other of us fall 
straight into the open jaAvs of the creature. After using up our stock 
of arrows we thought the most advisable thing to do Avas to get back as 
carefully as possible. With outstretched neck the mother folloAved us 
to the bank where hoAvever she stopped. The animal is too timid to be 
of any danger on dry land Avihere it even seems: to recognise its defence- 
lessness, because it will ahvays take the quickes^t course to spring into 
* Macusis have told nie that the Kaimau seizes the bigger fish at night when asleep. (Ed.) 
