Chap. XV. 
YOUNG ALLIGATOES. 
267 
anmiar The taste is sweet, and the fruit is wholesome : it is 
full of seeds, like the custard-apple. 
On the 28th we slept at a spot on the right bank, from which 
had just emerged two broods of alligators. We had seen many 
young ones as we came up, so this seems to be their time of 
coming forth from the nests, for we saw them sunning them¬ 
selves on sandbanks in company with the old ones. We made 
our fire in one of the deserted nests, wliich were strewed all over 
with the broken shells. At the Zouga we saw sixty eggs taken 
out of one such nest alone. They are about the size of those of 
a goose, only the eggs of the alligator are of the same diameter 
at both ends ; and the white shell is partially elastic, from having 
a strong internal membrane and but little lime in its composi¬ 
tion. The distance from the water was about ten feet, and there 
were evidences of the same place having been used for a similar 
purpose in former years. A broad path led up from the water 
to the nest, and the dam, it was said by my companions, after 
depositing the eggs, covers them up, and retmms afterwards to 
assist the young out of the place of confinement and out of the 
egg. She leads them to the edge of the water, and then leaves 
them to catch small fish for themselves. Assistance to come 
forth seems necessary, for here, besides the tough membrane of 
the shell, they had fom' inches of earth upon them; but they do 
not require immediate aid for food, because they all retain a 
portion of yolk, equal to that of a hen’s egg, m a membrane in 
the abdomen, as a stock of nutriment, wliile only beginning inde¬ 
pendent existence by catching fish. Fish is the principal food 
of both small and large, and they are much assisted in catcliing 
them by their broad scaly tails. Sometimes an alligator, viewing 
a man in the water from the opposite bank, rushes across the 
stream with wonderful agility, as is seen by the Ingli ripple he 
makes on the surface caused by his rapid motion at the bottom; 
but in general they act by stealth, sinldng underneath as soon 
as they see man. They seldom leave the water to catch prey, 
but often come out by day to enjoy the pleasure of basking in 
the sun. In walking along the bank of the Zouga once, a small 
one, about tlnee feet long, made a dash at my feet, and caused 
me to rush quickly in another direction; but this is unusual, for 
I never heard of a similar case. A wounded leche, chased into 
