REPTILES. 431 
to me, 'while I recount a sad accident. One fine 
evening last year, as the people of Angustura were saun- 
tering up and down here, in the Alameda, I was within 
twenty yards of this place, when I saw a large cayman 
rush out of the river, seize a man, and carry him down, 
before any body had it in his power to assist him. The 
screams of the poor fellow were terrible as the cayman 
was running off with him. He plunged into the river with 
his prey ; we instantly lost sight of him, and never saw 
or heard him more.' " 
SECTION IV. ^elontan 
THE COMMON, OR GREEK, TORTOISE. 
(Testudo Gr&ca.) 
THIS animal has a small head, four feet, and a tail, which 
the animal gathers within the shell in such a way that 
the top part and the under-one meet together, and so 
closely, that the greatest strength cannot separate them. 
The eye is destitute of an upper lid, the under-one serving 
to defend that organ. The upper shell, made up of 
thirty-seven compartments, is convex, and so strong, that 
a loaded cart can pass over it without injuring the crea- 
