CHAP* Having mentioned thé alligator* I fhall take the li-
. . berty to offer to the ^reader (though he -cannot but
havé met. with fome account of this creature in reading
different voyages) fome particulars whiehl haVe myfelf
obferved, or of which I have been informed on the beft
authority".
It is an amphibious animal, and found in moft rivers
in. Guiana; its * fizè is from four to eighteen or twenty
feet in length; the tail as long as the body, both*of. which
are on the upper part indented like a Taw, itsfhape^ being
fomething like a lizard; the colour on the baek is a>yel-
lowiih brown, approaching to black, variegated on theiMes
with greenifli. fhades, the belly being a dirty white; the
head is large, with a fnout and eyes fomewhat refembling
thofeof a fowj the laft immoveable, and guarded'each
by a large protuberance or hard knob. The mp^thr«and
throat, extremely wide, are befet with doublevrows ;of
teeth, that can fhap almoft through any bone: ijthas four
feet, armed with claws and hard Ihar^pointed mails.
The whole animal is covered over with large fcales,' and
a fkin fb thick that it is invulnerable, even by a mufquetf
ball, except in the head or the belly, where it i& moft
liable to be wounded ; its flefh is eaten by the natives, but
is of a mulky tafte and flavour, owing it is faid, to a kind
of bags or bladders which are on the infide of each limb.
The alligator lays its eggs on the fhore to a great number
in the fand, where they are hatched by the fun, the
males