The voice of the Alligator is loud and harsh. They have an unpleasant and powerful musky scent. M. Pagés says, that near one of the rivers in America, where they were numerous, their effluvia was so strong as to impregnate his provisions, and even to give them the nauseous taste of rotten musk. This effluvium proceeds chiefly from four glands, two of which are situated in the groin, near each thigh, and the other two at the breast, under each fore leg. Dampier informs us that, when his men killed an Alligator, they generally took out these glands, and, after having dried them, wore them in their hats by way of perfume.
The following anecdote of the voracity of this animal is related by Waterton, in his “Wanderings in South America”:—“One Sunday evening, some years ago, as I was walking with Don Felipe de Ynciarte, governor of Angustura, on the bank of the Oroonoque, ‘Stop here a minute or two, Don Carlos,’ said he to me, ‘while I recount a sad accident. One fine evening last year, as the people of Angustura were sauntering up and down here, in the Alameda, I was within twenty yards of this place, when I saw a large Cayman rush out of the river, seize a man, and carry him down, before anybody had it in his power to assist him. The screams of the poor fellow were terrible, as the Cayman was running off with him. He plunged into the river with his prey: we instantly lost sight of him, and never saw or heard him more.’ ”
§ IV. Chelonian Reptiles.
THE COMMON, OR GREEK TORTOISE.
(Testudo Græca.)
This animal has a small head, four feet, and a tail, which it can gather within the shell in such a way that the top and under part meet together, and so closely, that the greatest strength cannot separate them. The eye is destitute of an upper lid, the under one serving to defend that organ. The upper shell, composed of thirty-seven compartments, is convex, and so strong, that a loaded cart can pass over it without injuring the creature inside. In winter, Tortoises are said to bury themselves in the ground, or retire to some cavern or hole, which they line with moss, grass, and leaves, and where they pass in safe and solitary retirement the whole of this season. The Tortoise is very tenacious of life, and is no less remarkable for its longevity, as it is ascertained that one lived upwards of one hundred and twenty years in the garden of Lambeth Palace.