1613.—"... mais avante ... por distancia de 2 legoas, esta o fermoso ryo de Cassam de lagarthos o crocodillos."—Godinho de Eredia, 10.
1673.—"The River was full of Aligators or Crocodiles, which lay basking in the Sun in the Mud on the River's side."—Fryer, 55.
1727.—"I was cleaning a vessel ... and had Stages fitted for my People to stand on ... and we were plagued with five or six Allegators, which wanted to be on the Stage."—A. Hamilton, ii. 133.
1761.—
"... else that sea-like Stream
(Whence Traffic pours her bounties on mankind)
Dread Alligators would alone possess."
Grainger, Bk. ii.
1881.—"The Hooghly alone has never been so full of sharks and alligators as now. We have it on undoubted authority that within the past two months over a hundred people have fallen victims to these brutes."—Pioneer Mail, July 10th.
ALLIGATOR-PEAR, s. The fruit of the Laurus persea, Lin., Persea gratissima, Gaertn. The name as here given is an extravagant, and that of avocato or avogato a more moderate, corruption of aguacate or ahuacatl (see below), which appears to have been the native name in Central America, still surviving there. The Quichua name is palta, which is used as well as aguacaté by Cieza de Leon, and also by Joseph de Acosta. Grainger (Sugarcane, Bk. I.) calls it "rich sabbaca," which he says is "the Indian name of the avocato, avocado, avigato, or as the English corruptly call it, alligator pear. The Spaniards in S. America call it Aguacate, and under that name it is described by Ulloa." In French it is called avocat. The praise which Grainger, as quoted below, "liberally bestows" on this fruit, is, if we might judge from the specimens occasionally met with in India, absurd. With liberal pepper and salt there may be a remote suggestion of marrow: but that is all. Indeed it is hardly a fruit in the ordinary sense. Its common sea name of 'midshipman's butter' [or 'subaltern's butter'] is suggestive of its merits, or demerits.