‘I have frequently been very much amused when fishing in a bayou, where alligators were numerous, by throwing a blown bladder on the water towards the nearest to me. The alligator makes for it, flaps it towards its mouth, or attempts seizing it at once, but all in vain. The light bladder slides off; in a few minutes many alligators are trying to seize this, and their evolutions are quite interesting. They then put one in mind of a crowd of boys running after a football. A black bottle is sometimes thrown also, tightly corked; but the alligator seizes this easily, and you hear the glass give way under its teeth as if ground in a coarse mill. They are easily caught by negroes, who most expertly throw a rope over their heads when swimming close to shore, and haul them out instantly.’ The _Tortoise_ is found in considerable numbers and variety. In the lakes west of the Mississippi, and near New Orleans, a soft shelled mud-tortoise is found, which epicures declare to be not much inferior to the sea-turtle of the West Indies. The gouffre is an animal apparently of the tortoise class, and is abundant in the pine barrens of the south-western states. Its shell is large and thick, and it burrows to a great depth in the ground; its strength and power are wonderful, and in many respects it is similar to the logger-head turtle. The siren is nearly two feet in length, and a very singular animal; it somewhat resembles the lamprey. It is amphibious, penetrates the mud easily, and seems to be of an order between fish and lizards. The whole of the republic is prolific in toads, frogs, and reptiles of that class; but they are found in the greatest number and variety in the regions of the warmest temperature. V. INSECTS. The insects of the United States are numerous, and many of them beautiful; many of the species are entirely new, and science has been much indebted to Mr. Say for additions of no inconsiderable importance to entomology. The moths and butterflies are exceedingly splendid, and one of them, the atlas moth, is the largest hitherto known. Among the spiders, is a huge species called the tarantula, supposed to inflict a dangerous bite. The annoyance inflicted by moschetos in hot weather is well known; by these and other stinging insects, damp and low situations are rendered very disagreeable during the summer. The fire flies, which glitter especially in the southern forests, are very interesting. The copper colored centiped, a creature of cylindrical form, and as long as a man’s finger, is dreaded as noxious; a family is said to have been poisoned by taking tea in which one of them had been accidentally boiled.