The Caimans have the jaws oblong, depressed, rounded, and swollen at the end, without frontal ridges or maxillary pits; teeth unequal, the lower canines fitting into pits in the upper jaw; toes webbed. There are three species described—C. trigonatus, C. palpebrosus, and C. goddeceps, all natives of Tropical America.
The Jacares, Alligators, and Caimans are natives of America, which country is fruitful in other species of the family. C. acutus is also found in Martinique and San Domingo; C. rhombifor, at Cuba; A. palpebrosus, A. sclerops, A. punctulatus, and A. cynocephalus are natives of the southern part of the American Continent; and A. lucius is found in the north.]
The principal characteristics of the American Crocodile are a head one-third its length, and a very short muzzle; teeth unequal in shape and size, the fourth lower tooth being buried in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed; the first teeth of the lower jaw piercing the upper at a certain age, so as to appear through the muzzle when closed. The hinder legs and feet rounded, having neither crest nor indentation on their edges; the intervals of the toes more than half covered with a short membrane, forming semi-palmated feet.
It is generally admitted, as we have stated above, that there are five species of this genera, all exclusively American, the type of which is the Alligator, or Caiman. A. Mississipensis (Gray) belongs properly to North America, through the whole southern extent of which it is found. They are gregarious, living together in large herds in the Mississippi and its southern tributaries; they are also found in the lakes and marshes of Louisiana, Carolina, and even as far north as thirty degrees of north latitude. Alligators do not appear to leave fresh water. During the winter season they bury themselves in the mud of the marshes, and await in a state of torpor the return of spring, which is the signal of their restoration to activity. In the neighbourhood of Bayou Sarah, on the Mississippi, flats of lakes and marshes stretch away to a vast extent on either bank; every year these reservoirs are flooded by the overflow of the river, when they are visited by myriads of fishes. The heat soon partly dries up these lakes, leaving only about two feet deep of water, thus displaying a vast amount of prey ready prepared for the shore birds and Crocodiles. Millions of ibis, herons, cranes, and cormorants wade into the water in pursuit of these fish. In the deepest portions vast quantities of these imprisoned fish accumulate, and these parts are known in the country as the Alligators' holes. Thither these reptiles crowd, pressing one against the other, and they soon thoroughly clear it of the fish which lately were in such dense crowds. As evaporation proceeds and the marshes gradually dry up, the fish are more and more exposed to their voracious enemies. The Alligators pursue and devour them in the water, whilst the ibis destroys those which seek the banks for refuge. Alligators fish chiefly during the night. In the hours of darkness and obscurity they assemble in large herds, chase the fish before them, driving them into some retired creek, where they rejoice their hearts at the expense of the unfortunate finny tribes, which they force into their widely opened mouths by a lateral movement of their tails. On these occasions the clashing of their jaws may be heard at the distance of a mile. Alligators are found by thousands in Mexican waters, and nearly all North American rivers to the south of them. In the beautiful transparent waters of Lake Claro they abound, and are without difficulty seen by the naked human eye. Here they are so closely pressed one against the other that they resemble a raft of trees recently felled, and the resemblance is further increased by the colour of their backs and the bark of a newly-felled tree being identical. In this united and immovable condition, while waiting for their prey, the approach of a boat is disregarded; but they rush with avidity at everything animate which either falls or is thrown into the lake. Many children of poor negro women become a prey to the Caiman in this locality. They rarely, however, pursue men, yet they would not hesitate to devour them if their imprudence has placed them close to their terrible jaws.
The natives of Mexico hunt the Caiman. When they meet an isolated individual asleep, they throw a lasso round its body, and when secured, gag it. After this operation, the victim's career is terminated by hammering on his head. There is another means which the Indians use to capture the Caiman. They provide themselves with four pieces of hard wood about a foot long, and as thick as a man's finger, and pointed at each end; round these they tie a cord in such a manner that, supposing the cord to be an arrow, the four sticks would form the head of it. They then fasten the other end of the cord round a tree, and bait with meat. This device is thrown into the water. When the Caiman snaps at the prey the points of the hook, on straining on the line, penetrate into its flesh. Having waited till the Alligator is dead, it is drawn from the water, when the captors further gratify their dislike and spirit of revenge by breaking its skull with stones and sticks.
Another method of capturing Alligators is practised by the residents on the upper waters of the giant river Orinoco. A tree is bent (generally a bamboo is selected from its elasticity) till the top is brought down to the butt, a bait is then placed on a sharp hook, the line attached to it being fastened securely to the small end of the bent tree, which is caused to relax its position by an ingenious piece of mechanism which gives way the moment the least strain is felt upon the line; the tree-point becoming thus released, straightens itself with great velocity, and drags the victim from the water.
Frequently the Alligator, from constant pursuit and interruption, becomes excessively wary and difficult to destroy; when such is the case, a live bait is sometimes successfully employed. For instance, a Dog with a hook tied to his back is taken in a canoe and dropped in the water; it is seldom the unfortunate cur is permitted to swim far before being seized.
It is currently believed that the Alligator prefers dog-flesh to all others. The negroes on the plantations in the South-Western States of America, by imitating the barking of a dog, frequently lure these reptiles from their hiding-places, when a well-directed bullet terminates their career.
Alligators are very voracious, but, like Serpents and Turtles, they can live a long time without nourishment. In Brown's "Natural History of Jamaica," he asserts that he has known the Caiman to live several months without food. The following experiments have been tried in that island:—The mouth of an Alligator was muzzled by a strong cord, it was then thrown into a reservoir of water. Thus these animals lived a considerable time. They were seen to rise occasionally to the surface of the water, until death came to their rescue. Let us add to this, that Crocodiles bred in captivity in the menagerie of the Museum of Natural History, at Paris, sometimes live for several months without eating.
