I am not about to recommend this creature to you on account of his beauty or amiable qualities. He has, in fact, too large a mouth, and too long a tail, to be handsome, and his reputation is not of the pleasantest kind. However, it is interesting to hear about all the works of nature, and as this is one of the most wonderful, I shall proceed to describe it.
Alligators live in warm climates, and spend the greater part of their time in the water. There are four or five kinds in America, but the most dangerous are found along the banks of the river Mississippi. These creatures are sometimes fifteen or even twenty feet in length; their mouths are two or three feet long and fourteen or fifteen inches wide. Their teeth are strong and sharp, and their claws are also very strong.
During the middle of the day the alligators are generally at rest—lying lazily upon the shore, or in the water. Toward evening, however, they begin to move about in search of prey, and then the roar of the larger ones is terrific. It is louder and deeper than the lowing of the bull, and it has all the savage wildness of the bittern’s cry. It would seem that this bellowing could not be agreeable to anything, for as soon as the birds and beasts hear it, they fly as if smitten with terror; but still, when an alligator wishes to speak something loving into the ear of another, he goes to bellowing with all his might, and this sound, so awful to other creatures, seems very pleasant and musical to the alligator which is thus addressed. This shows that there is a great difference in tastes.
THE CROCODILE.
The male alligators sometimes engage in ferocious battles. These usually take place in shallow water, where their feet can touch the ground. At first they only cudgel each other with their tails; but the blows given are tremendous, and soon rouse the anger of the parties. They then go at it with teeth and claws. The snapping, scratching, rending and thumping, are now tremendous; the water boils around with the struggle; streams of blood mingle with the waves; and at last one of the combatants is actually torn in pieces by his adversary.
The appetite of the alligator is voracious; I never heard of one that had the dyspepsia. Nothing of the animal kind comes amiss; mountain cat, monkey, vulture, parrot, snake-lizard, and even the electric eel, rattlesnake, and venomous bush-master, are alike swallowed down! Nor does it matter whether the creature be alive or dead, save only that it seems most admired when in a putrid state. It frequently happens that the creature will deposit an animal he has killed in the water till partly decayed, and when most offensive to us, it seems most delicious to the alligator.
In some of the rivers of North and South America, within the tropics, these creatures are very numerous. They also infest the lakes and lagoons all around the Gulf of Mexico; and it is here that the alligator’s paradise is found. When the spring rains come these creatures have a perfect carnival. Many fishes, birds, and animals, are killed during the freshets, and are borne along in the floods; upon their remains these creatures feast; and as the vulture is provided by providence to devour and remove offal from the land, which would otherwise infect the air and produce pestilence; so the alligators are the scavengers of the waters, and clear away putrescence that would otherwise render them poisonous and unapproachable to man. So, after all, the alligator has his part to play in the great economy of nature, and is actually very useful.
The alligator is nearly the same as the crocodile of the eastern continent. The females lay eggs, and one of them is said to produce a hundred in a season. They are of the size of geese eggs, and are often eaten, being esteemed tolerable food. The eggs, being deposited in the sand and covered up, are hatched by the heat.