The Alligator. 519 
of the crocodile. The principal mark of distinction is, 
that the former has its head and part of the neck more 
smooth than the latter, and the snout is considerably 
more wide and flat, as well as more rounded at the ex- 
tremity. The largest of these animals do not usually 
exceed eighteen feet. Alligators are natives of the 
warmer parts of America, and are the dread of all living 
animals. Their voracity is so great that they do not 
spare even mankind. 
The voice of the Alligator is loud and harsh. They 
have an unpleasant and powerful musky scent. M. Pages 
says, that near one of the rivers in America, where they 
were numerous, their effluvia was so strong as to impreg- 
nate his provisions, and even to give them the nauseous 
taste of rotten musk. This effluvium proceeds chiefly 
from four glands, two of which are situated in the groin, 
near each thigh, and the other two at the breast, under 
each fore leg. Dampier informs us that, when his men 
killed an Alligator, they generally took out these glands, 
and, after having dried them, wore them in their hats 
by way of perfume. 
The following anecdote of the voracity of this animal 
is related by Waterton, in his "Wanderings in South 
America": — " One Sunday evening, some years ago, as I 
was walking with Don Felipe de Ynciarte, governor of 
Angustura, on the bank of the Oroonoque, ' Stop here a 
minute or two, Don Carlos,' said he to me, ' while I re- 
count a sad accident. One fine evening last year, as the 
people of Angustura were sauntering 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 anybody 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.' " 
