attempted this, the latter suddenly drew his head within the shell, and
repeatedly disappointed him. The tortoise, on its part, rose at
intervals upon its hind-feet, and making a dash forward, would dart
forth its long neck, and clutch at the softer parts of its antagonist's
body just under the throat. Several times it had succeeded in this
manoeuvre, and each time it had brought the piece with it, so that the
caiman was already somewhat mangled. Another manoeuvre of the tortoise
was to seize the tail of its antagonist. Instinct seemed to teach it
that this was a vulnerable part, and for the purpose of reaching the
tail, it constantly kept crawling and edging round towards it.

Now, there is no movement so difficult for a reptile of the crocodile
kind as to turn its body on dry land. The peculiar formation of the
vertebrae, both of its neck and spine, renders this movement difficult;
and in "changing front," the reptile is forced to describe a full circle
with its unwieldy body--in fact to turn "all of a piece." The tortoise,
therefore, had the advantage, and, after several efforts, he at length
succeeded in outflanking his antagonist, and getting right round to his
rear. He lost no time, but, raising himself to his full height and
making a dart forward, seized the tail and held on. He had caught by the
very tip, and it was seen that his horny mandibles had taken a proper
hold.

Now commenced a somewhat ludicrous scene. The caiman, though but a small
one, with the immense muscular power which he possessed in his tail, if
not able to detach his antagonist, was able to give him a sound shaking,
and the turtle was seen vibrating from side to side, dragged along the
sand. He held his broad yellow feet spread out on all sides, so as to
preserve his equilibrium, for he well knew that to lose that would be to
lose his life. Should he get turned on his back it would be all over
with him; but he carefully guarded against such a fatal catastrope. Of
course there were intervals when the caiman became tired, and remained
still for a moment; and at each of these intervals the tortoise renewed
his hold, and, in fact, as our party now perceived, was slowly, though
surely, _eating the tail_!

When this had continued a short while, the great saurian seemed to
despair. The pain, no doubt, caused him to weep "crocodile's tears,"
though none were seen, but his eyes glared with a lurid light, and he
began to look around for some means of