codile is found in many parts of Spanish
America, and also in many of the West India Islands. For a long time it
was believed that only alligators existed in America, and that the
crocodiles were confined to the Eastern Continent. It is now known that
at least one species of crocodile is an American animal, and several
distinct species of alligators are inhabitants of the New World. There
is the alligator of the Mississippi--which is the "caiman" or "cayman"
of the Spanish Americans; there is the spectacled alligator (_Alligator
sclerops_), a southern species, so called from a pair of rings around
its eyes having a resemblance to spectacles; and there is a still
smaller species called the "bava," which is found in Lake Valencia, and
in many South American rivers. The last kind is much hunted by the
Indians, who, although they eat parts of all these creatures, are fonder
of the flesh of the bava than of any of the others.

They had not intended to keep watch this night, as the naked promontory
seemed to be a safe place to sleep upon; but now, after their adventure
with the crocodile, they changed their minds, and they resolved to mount
guard as before. The monster might easily crawl out of the water again,
and, judging from the size of his mouth, it is not improbable to suppose
that he might have swallowed one of the smaller individuals of the party
at a single effort. Lest he might return to use either his teeth or his
tail, the watch was set as on other nights--Leon taking the first turn,
Guapo the second, and Don Pablo sitting it out till daybreak. The night
passed through, however, without any unusual disturbance; and although
an occasional plunge was heard in the water close by, no more was seen
of the crocodile until morning.

I have said _until_ morning--for he was seen then. Yes! indeed. That
beauty was not going to let them off without giving them another peep at
him--not he.

They were awake and up before day; and as the fire had been kept burning
all night, they had now nothing more to do than rake up the embers, and
hang on the coffee-kettle. It was not yet bright day when breakfast was
already cooked, and they sat down to eat it.

While engaged in this operation, they noticed a string of flamingoes on
the muddy promontory, at the end where it joined the land. They were
ranged in line, like soldiers, some of them balanced on one long thin
leg, as these birds do. They appeared in the grey light