| A pair of gaping jaws seized him round the waist and dragged him | | under water; after a short lapse of time the brute came up to | | breathe and was seen with one leg of the man sticking out from his | | jaws. | | | | Other instances of this kind have been mentioned by naturalists, | | but I do not remember any cases of men being seized when actually | | swimming in the water. Possibly my Indians may have known from | | hearsay or experience the truth of what they stated. | | | | It has been said that alligators, owing to the formation of their | | throats, cannot swallow their prey in the water, but are obliged | | to go to the banks for that purpose. | | | | It was not, however, upon the subject of the danger to men from | | approaching these reptiles that the conversation chiefly turned. | | | | We discussed the question of their food supply. Mr. Bates said | | that they lived upon fish. I observed, with reference to that part | | of the river where I had seen them congregated in such amazing | | numbers, that it was impossible that the supply of food from fish | | alone could be sufficient, and also that in consequence of the | | filthy state of the water no fish could live in it. | | | | Mr. Bates after some consideration said that their food must be | | fish, but he added, that it was probable that they could live in | | an almost torpid condition for long periods. | | | | Mr. Bates felt assured that fish formed the food of alligators. It | | was not possible to feel quite satisfied with this solution of the | | problem, especially under circumstances where alligators abound in | | stagnant lagoons in which fish must necessarily be scarce. | | | | In the unfrequented parts of the estuaries of rivers flowing into | | the Caribbean sea, it can be understood that at certain seasons of | | the year the supply of fish may be great, and we have the | | authority of that careful observer Mr. Bartram, for the statement | | that upon those occasions the numbers of alligators crowding the | | rivers in Florida were astonishing. | | | | In 1853 the “Vestal” happened to be cruising off Cuba, and I was |