en the young are out, her first care is to get them to the
water out of the way of such dangers. This seems to be their first
instinct, too; for no sooner are they free from the shell than they are
seen scuttling off in that direction, or following their mother, many of
them having climbed upon her back and shoulders."

"But, brother," interrupted Francois, "is it true that the old males eat
their own young?"

"Horrible though it be, it is perfectly true, Francois. I myself have
seen it."

"And I," said Basil, "several times."

"The first care of the mother is to get them to the water, where she can
better conceal them from their unnatural parent; but, notwithstanding
all her precautions, many of them fall victims, both to the old
alligators, and the larger tortoises, and birds. As soon as the young
ones have learned a little sense, if I may so speak, they elude their
monster fathers and uncles, as they are nimbler in their movements, and
can keep out of reach of their great jaws and tails. I have often seen
the small alligators riding upon the backs of the larger ones, knowing
that the latter could not reach them in that situation."

"They appear to eat anything that comes in their way," remarked
Francois.

"They are not very particular as to that. Fish is their favourite food,
I believe, but they will eat any land animal they can kill; and it is
believed they prefer it in a state of putrefaction. That is a doubtful
point. They have been known to kill large animals in the water, and
leave them at the bottom for several days; but this may have happened
because they were not hungry at the time, and were merely keeping them
until they should get an appetite. The process of digestion with them,
as with all reptiles, is very slow; hence they do not require such
quantities of food as the warm-blooded animals--mammals and birds. For
instance, they bury themselves in the mud, and lie asleep during the
whole winter without any food."

"You say fish is their favourite food, Luce," said Basil; "now I think
they are fonder of dogs than anything else. I have often known them to
come where they had heard the yelping of a dog as if for the purpose of
devouring it. I have seen one seize a large dog that was swimming
across the Bayou Boeuf, and drag him under, as quick as a trout would
have taken a fly. The dog was never seen again."

"It is very true," replied Lucien, "that they will eat dogs, as they
will any ot