256 
Here young alligators (6) are playfuily sport- 
ing 5 
Here innocent tygers (7), and gentle wa- 
rees (8) ; 
All frisking, like Jambkins,” and wantonly 
courting, 
On the pastoral banks of ected 
Belize. 
No proud marble domes, upon these rural 
plains, 
Nor lofty pilasters, the traveller sees ; 
ance at Honduras, both in the sea and the 
rivers, insomuch that the Baymen assert it 
to be common for them to leap inta the pass- 
ing dories ; but truth obliges me to say, I 
never saw sucha circumstance, during a four 
years’ residence. 
(6, 7, 
browses the vercant mead, yet these are no 
less indispensable % a pastoral, than are pre- 
ternatural agents to an epic poem : therefore, 
s the epic poet forms his machinery from 
the coinage of his brain, so here the pastoral 
Songster, bv ano less pardonable poetic ii-_ 
cence, Pfecorizes the actual natives of ea 
countrys by way of substitut<s 
Alligators are very common, and may be 
daily seen (perhaps 20 feet.in length), bask- 
ing asleep on the rivers’ banks, and appear- 
ing like trunks of old trees, or swimming in 
the water, J have heard of them occasionally 
Seizing cattle coming to drink, but they never 
attempt to attack the people passing. On 
the contrary, -when they see a beat or canoe 
coming along, they seldom fail to take the 
water, either dashi ng down at once, or more 
frequently walking in at leisure. From the 
Strength of their eaiics it is very ‘difficult to 
shoot them. ‘They may be often discovered 
from the strong musky perfume they emit 
Naturalists having formed erroneous Conjec- 
tures as-to the seat of this musk, some al- 
leging: it to be in the head, and others in the 
testicles, J think it proper to state, that, on 
dissecting a young one, caught alive by some 
negroes fishing, [ found the musk contained 
in a vesicle under each arm-pit. This ani- 
mal, though not above eighteen inches long, 
was completely vicious, biting at every thing 
held near it. The eggs, from which’ these 
monsters are hatched by thesun, when depo- 
sited by the mother on the beach, are not 
larger then a gocse’s egg. 
Tygers are neithernume<rous nor formidable. 
Phey are much inferior, both in size and fe- 
socity, to their brethren of Asia and Africa. 
The Waree is an animal ofa very different 
descriptics from either of the above, being in- 
nocent, but wild and shy. They are called 
wild hogs, having some similarity to the sow, 
although of a different genus; their flesh also 
eats more like pork than any other. They 
are gregarious, and range the woods i in large 
nerds. : s 
The Banks of Belize, a H onduras Pastoral. 
8) No aieep or lamb at Honduras- 
its natural flavour. 
appearance of a smal] alligator. 
[Oct. 1, 
But a charming simplicity ev’ry where reigns 
In the wood-cutters’ huts, 6n the banks of 
Belize (9). 
Let those who delight in fresh fish and fresh 
alr, 
A-gamboling go to Honduras’ fam’d 
Keys (10) ; 
More delighted the bard, when ee the- 
fair (11) 
On the gay flow’ry banks of pellucid Belize. 
Ye Aldermen, who on rich turtle (12) would 
feast, 
Or wish to indulge in more rare mana- 
tees (13), 
- Leave the city awhile, in perfection to taste 
These delicate bits on the banks of Belize. 
_ With guanas (14) and monkeys (15) your | 
board shall be crown’d, 
Ducks(i6), curassoes(17), pigeons (18), 
and nice hicatees (19) ; 
Wild 
(9) This stanza is literally true, except the 
epithet ‘* charming,” which is poetical. - 
(10) The Keys are little barren islands scat- 
teres along the coast, whither the inhabitants 
occasionally repair, on parties of pleasure, or 
during the rainy season, to enjoy a somewhat 
less insalubrieus and oppressive climate. One 
of them, St. George’s Key, is regularly inha- 
bited. a 
(11) See note 2. 
(12) Turtle are here plentiful and cheap. 
The price of a green turtle, of from one to 
four hundred weight, is (or at least was, 
when the pastoral was written) regularly four 
dollars. Jt forms the principal food of the 
inhabitants. It is: also an excellent, nut ¢- 
tious, and wholesome provision, for the nu- 
merous ship’s companies trading here; but it 
is not, as in England, dressed with such high 
seasoning and rich sauces as to overpower 
The hawksbili turtle, 
so valuable for itsshell, but much interior for, 
food, is not found on this part of the cuast 5 it 
is frequent on the Mosquito shore. 
(15) The Manatee, or sea-cow, is an am- ~ 
plibious animal, formed somewhat like a seal, 
but weighing a ton or upwards, It, as well 
as’ the turtle, feeds on a sulmarine plant. 
Its flesh is a great delicacy, and it has also a 
very thick and tough skin, with which, 
whenccut intw straps, “the backs of the negro” 
slaves are familiar. ? 
(i4) The Guana, or Iguana, isa large spe- 
cies of lizard, about two feet long, inoffensive, 
but of a very forbidding figure, having the 
Their flesh, 
however, is equal to that of the most delicate 
fow]. They feed on the leaves- of the trees 
growing on the banks of the rivers, and are 
‘amphibious. 
(15) Menkeys are plentiful, but have not 
yet been introduced at the tables of the 
whites. They are, however, deemed a_ 
oh 
