considerable dread lest, in pursuing his
voyage up the river, he should, every evening, encounter difficulties
similar to those which he had now experienced.

Having loaded his gun and re-embarked, he set sail cautiously along the
shore; and was, not long afterwards, attacked by an alligator, which he
beat off with his club; another passed close by his boat, having a brood
of young ones, a hundred or more in number, following her, in a long
train. On one part of the shore Mr. Bartram beheld a great number of
hillocks, or small pyramids, in shape resembling haycocks, and ranged
like an encampment. They were on a high marsh, fifteen or twenty yards
from the water, and each about four feet in height. He knew them to be
the nests of alligators, and now expected a furious and general attack,
as he saw several large alligators swimming near them. Notwithstanding
this he was determined to land and examine them. Accordingly, he ran his
canoe on shore; and, having ascended a sloping bank or road which led to
the place, he found that most of the nests were deserted, and thick
whitish egg-shells lay broken and scattered upon the ground around them.

These nests were in the form of obtuse cones, and were constructed with
mud, grass, and herbage. In the formation of them, the alligators had
made a kind of floor of these substances, upon the ground; on this they
had deposited a layer of eggs, and upon that a stratum of mortar, seven
or eight inches in thickness, and then another layer of eggs; and, in
this manner, one stratum upon another, nearly to the top. Mr. Bartram
supposes that the eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun; and that the
female alligator carefully watches her own nest of eggs until they are
all hatched. He says it is certain that the young ones are not left to
shift for themselves, for he had frequent opportunities of seeing female
alligators leading about the shores their offspring, as a hen does her
chickens.

After having gratified his curiosity, he continued his voyage up the
river. In his progress he observed several small floating islands. The
swamps on the banks of the river were, in general, three or four feet
above the level of the water; and the timber upon them was large, but
thinly scattered. The black mould of these swamps was covered with a
succulent and tender kind of grass, which, when chewed, was sweet and
agreeable to the taste, somewhat like young sugar-canes. Alligators were
still numerous.