nd romantic surroundings. My first impulse was to exclaim,
partly to myself, and partly to the Indian Joao who accompanied me,
"Why, this is Lake Innocence," so peaceful did it appear. In fact,
so much did it charm me that during the remainder of my stay at
Floresta there was hardly a day some part of which I did not spend
in the immediate vicinity of this lake. But it was treacherous. It
was the home of six or seven old alligators and of young ones--too
numerous to count; the oldest reaching a length of about seventeen
feet. They would lie perfectly still under the banks, among the dead
branches and snags, which made the shores generally inaccessible to
boat or canoe, but when a person approached they would make their
presence known by violent splashing in the water and repeated loud
grunts, very much resembling those of a walrus. Then they would burrow
under the soft mud and remain quiet for an hour or two. In the early
forenoon, before the sun became too hot, they would sun themselves,
but in the sweltering mid-day hours they remained buried in the mud,
and were then very hard to rouse.

I found, on the shores of the lake, two alligator nests, formed of many
twigs and branches stuck together, half in the water and half in the
soft slimy mud. There they deposited their eggs, oblong tough ones;
and one could always count on finding the female in the neighbourhood,
should one desire to visit her. I came near stepping on one of these
female alligators during a morning hunt with my camera. I was intently
examining a group of eggs I found under a cluster of branches, when
I was startled by a splash in the water and a loud grunt. As fast
as the muddy ground would let me, I scrambled up the bank, and when
I reached the top I saw the alligator swimming away from the very
spot where I had been standing, its small close-set eyes fastened on
me. Then it disappeared in the mud.

My next encounter occurred one forenoon, when I was sitting close
to the dried-up canal which formed the outlet of the lake. It was
almost mid-day. I was sitting in the shade, safe from the blazing sun,
enjoying a peaceful smoke. The air was fairly vibrating with heat,
causing the blood to surge through my veins. Not a sound was heard
except the irritating buzz of the ever-present mosquitoes. For some
time I had been aware of the slow, stealthy movement of a large body
near-by, though only half consciously. The heat made me sluggish
and sleepy, but sudd