150 
them, without apprehension or molesta- 
tion. The immense quantity of small fish, 
which abound in the Ganges, affords 
them ample means of satisfying their 
hunger, without having recourse to hu- 
man food; they are seen lying on their 
bellies near a sand-bank, with their huge 
jaws extended to the utmost stretch, the 
upper forming a right angle with the 
lower; the small fry enter the gulf in 
shoals, when they are suddenly shut, and 
the prey swallowed. When they have 
completely gorged themselves in this 
manner, they waddle up the sand-bank, 
and bask in the sun, until nature requires 
2 fresh supply of fuod, or danger prompts 
them to seek refuge in their native 
element. They are very fearful on land, 
and seldom venture beyond the banks of 
the river or lake which they inhabit, and 
on the approach of any persov, particu- 
larly an European, plunge into the water. 
Their dread of Europeans arises from 
their being frequently shot at by gentle- 
men going up and down the river, but 
they are not often killed, owing to their 
being covered with scales, which form a 
coat of mail, impenetrable to a musket 
ball, and the only vulnerable part about 
them is the belly and throat. I imagine, 
there is no difference between the alliga- 
tors of India and the crocodiles of Egypt; 
they correspond in size, shape, and co- 
Jour, and the Kumheer of the Sunder 
‘bunds possesses all the wily arts and cun- 
ning of the inhabitant of the Nile. When 
T was at * Pulo Penang, in the streights 
of Malacca, I saw one which had been 
accidentally entangled, and caught in a 
net, that measured seventeen feet three 
inches from the tip of the snout to the 
extremity of the tail, and, on opening it, 
fish of two pounds weight were found 
whole in its maw; whence it appears, — 
that their prey is gulped down with- 
out the trouble of mastication. The 
Fort of Vellore, in the Carnatic, is sur- 
rounded by 4 broad and deep wet ditch, 
in which there are a great number of alli- 
gators of the Kumbheer species. I once 
saw a Pariah dog thrown in and imme- 
diately torn to pieces ; several of them 
rushed upon him with a thundering noise, 
which continued some time, with a con- 
siderable agitation of the water, as if 
they were contending for the prize. 
The fierceness and voracity of these crea- 
tures issufficient to deter any man from 
venturing amongst them; but it is a fact, 
no |css singular than true, that an Irish 
soldier, of the garrison, of the name of 
* Prince of Wales's Island. 
Sale of Wises: 
: [Sept. ly ! 
Maguire, had the temerity to swim over _ 
the ditch, and back again, which he ac- 
complished, without receiving any Ine 
jury, although there were several alliga- 
tors within afew yards of him all the 
time. The soldier was tried by a court- 
martial for disobedience of the standing 
orders of the garrison, which interdicted 
any of the men from bathing in the ditch. 
When he was asked, in the usual way, 
what he had to say in his defence, he - 
replied, in a blunt Irish manner, ‘* Please 
your honours, I am sorry for having dise 
obeyed orders, and throw myself on the 
_mercy of the court for having done so; 
but I didn’t think there was any harm in» 
taking a bit of a swim, as T knew the 
alligators would not hurt me.”—“ How 
could you know that?” asked one of the 
members. ‘ Because, Sir,” answered 
Pat, “Ihave formed a treaty of friend- 
ship with them.” This strange reply was 
thought, at the time, to be a_ piece of 
Trish wit; but, on further enquiry, it ac- 
tually appeared, that honest Pat fed 
them every morning with the offals of 
bullocks and sheep, which his situation 
of assistant butcher, in the Purveyor’s 
department, enabled him to procure. 
Whether the alligators knew and re- 
spected the person of their benefactor, or 
refrained touching it from some other 
cause, I cannot pretend to say; but I 
am fully persuaded of the truth of the 
circumstance, although I did not see it 
myself, for I had it from the mouth of 
the worthy president of the court-mar- 
tial, who is now in England, and known 
to be a gentleman of strict honour and 
veracity. 
=e 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.. 
SIR, 
“¢ Felices ter et amplius 
Quos irrupta tenet copula, nec malis 
Divulsus querimoniis 
Suprema citius solvet amor die.” 
GROSSER outrage cannot easily 
be conceived, against the moral 
feelings of that part of the community, 
who regard with reverence due the 
sanctity of that institution, to which we 
owe the prime felicity of human life, 
** relations dear, and ali the charities 
of father, son, and brother,” than is the — 
shameless profligacy of the husband, 
who prostitutes his wife by sale in a 
public market. And if your corréspons 
dents, who pronounce it i/legal, mean, 
that the wife thus transferred does not 
legally become the wife of the purchaser, 
no man of common sense will —_ 
& 
~ 
