of wood; and in one of them there was a stone, which weighed about four pounds.

The voracity of the alligator is so great, that they do not spare even mankind; and a story is told that, at the Manillas, as a young woman was washing her feet in one of the rivers, an alligator seized her by the feet, and carried her off; her husband, to whom she had been but that morning married, hearing her screams, threw himself headlong into the water, and, dagger in hand, pursued the spoiler. He overtook the animal, and fought him with such success, that he rescued his wife from his jaws; but unfortunately she was so much injured, that she died before she could be taken to the shore.

When alligators are very numerous, they will attempt during the night to get into, or to upset the canoes that pass near their haunts. M. de la Borde says he has often seen them at Cayenne attempt to raise themselves up against the sides of small boats; and he says, that the alligators which inhabit the lakes in South America are sometimes left dry, in consequence of the evaporation of the water; when they subsist by catching birds and land animals, or even subsist for a long time without food.

Admiral Dampier states that in the Bay of Campeachy they are by no means so ferocious as they are said to be in other places, which may probably arise from their having there an abundant supply of food. He says, that he never knew them attack a man; but he had often seen them run away from his sailors. He says, he has drunk out of a pond full of them, where the water was not deep enough to cover their backs; and the pond itself so small that he could get no water but by coming within two yards of an alligator's nose, whilst they were lying with their noses towards him. One day, with some of his men, he was passing through a swamp two or three feet deep in water, when they smelt the strong musky scent of an alligator; and presently he stumbled over one and fell down. He called lustily to his men for assistance; but they ran off as fast as they could towards the woods. He had no sooner recovered himself than he stumbled over the animal a second and again a third time; but at last he got off with safety. This adventure, however, so frightened him that whilst he remained in the Bay of Campeachy, he never again went through any extensive water. But it appears that when caught young, the alligator may

be domesticated. Dr. Brickell states that he saw a tame one in a large pond before a planter's house, which remained there nearly half a year; during which time it was regularly fed with the entrails of fowls and raw meat. It frequently came into the house, where it would remain a short time, and then return to its shelter in the pond; but it is supposed to have stolen away to a creek near the plantation; for it was one day missing, and was never afterwards seen.

Alligators deposit their eggs like the crocodiles and turtles, at two or three periods of the year; and lay from twenty to about twenty-four at each time. It is said that those of Cayenne and Surinam raise a little hillock on the bank of the water, and hollowing this out in the middle, they amass together a heap of leaves and other vegetable refuse, in which they deposit their eggs; then, having covered them with leaves, a fermentation ensues, by the heat of which, in addition to the heat of the atmosphere, the eggs are hatched. They generally lay their eggs in the month of April, and multitudes of them are destroyed by vultures and other birds of prey; besides, immense numbers of the young are devoured as soon as they reach the water by various species of fish.

The voice of the alligator is very loud and dreadful, and they have an unpleasant and powerful smell of musk; so much so, that near one of the rivers in America, where they were numerous, M. Pagés says, their effluvia was so strong as to impregnate his provisions, and even to give them the nauseous taste of rotten musk. This effluvium proceeds chiefly from four glands, two of which are situated in the groin, near each thigh; and the other two at the breast, one under each foreleg. When Dampier's men killed an alligator, he says, they generally took out these glands, and after having dried them, they wore them in their hats by way of perfume. Their teeth are as white as ivory, and they are manufactured into snuff-boxes, and several kinds of toys. It is said, the flesh of the young ones is white, and tolerably palatable; but that of the old ones is extremely unpleasant to European taste, owing to its strong musky scent; yet many of the American tribes are extremely fond of it.

THE COMMON GUANA.

THE guana grows to the length of four or five feet; it feeds on insects and vegetables; and it is an extremely gentle

and harmless animal. Its tail is long and round; its back is serrated or jagged, like the edge of a saw; and its crest is denticulated, or, as if set with small teeth. Individuals vary much in colour; but the prevailing tinge is brownish green. Under the chin it has a pouch, which is capable of being considerably inflated; and by this membrane they are easily distinguished from other lizards. When it is agitated by either fear or anger, it assumes an alarming appearance. Its eyes seem to be on fire; it hisses like a serpent; swells out the pouch under its throat; lashes about its long tail; erects the scales on its back; and holds its head, which is covered over with tubercles, in a menacing attitude. Its usual places of retreat or habitation are the clefts of rocks, or the hollows of trees. Although water is not its natural element, yet, in avoiding danger, it will bear immersion a considerable time; and in swimming, it keeps its legs pressed close to its body, and urges itself forward by its tail. It is quick in all its motions. It climbs up trees to the highest branches with great agility, around which it will entwine itself, and conceal its head in some of the various foldings of its body.

The females are smaller than the males; their colours and proportions are more agreeable, and their appearance altogether is more gentle and pleasing. They usually quit the woods or mountains about two months after the end of the winter, for the purpose of depositing their eggs in the sand on the sea shore. The number of their eggs vary from thirteen to twenty-five; they are longer, but not thicker, than pigeons' eggs, and their outer covering is white and flexible. Most travellers say that their eggs give an excellent relish to sauces, and that their taste is preferable to that of the eggs of poultry.

The male exhibits great attachment to the female during the spring of the year, whom he defends with fury; and he attacks with undaunted courage every animal that seems inclined to injure her. Although his bite is not poisonous, yet, at this time, he fastens on his enemy so firmly, that it becomes necessary either to beat him violently on the nose to make him quit his hold, or else to kill him. He cannot be killed with blows without difficulty, or even by fire-arms; but he dies almost instantaneously if even a straw be thrust up his nostrils, which occasions the flow of a few drops of blood, after which he expires.

The flesh of the guana constitutes a principal part of the food of the natives of the Bahama Islands: but although we lived some years at Nassau, the chief town of these islands, yet we never tasted the flesh of the guana, although we often saw the animal in a tame state. It is hunted by dogs that have been trained for the purpose; but it is chiefly snared by the following artifice :-The sportsman is attended by a negro, who carries a long rod, to one end of which is fastened a piece of whipcord with a running knot. After beating the bushes, with which these islands are entirely covered, the game is discovered on the dry limb of a tree, basking in the sun. Massa Snowball then begins to whistle with all his strength, and as melodiously as such music can be discoursed; to which the guana is wonderfully attentive; stretches out its neck, and turns his head as if to have a more perfect enjoyment of the music. The negro now approaches nearer, still whistling stentoriously; he advances his rod gently, and begins to tickle the sides and throat of the animal with the end of it. This operation pleases him excessively, and he will turn round and stretch himself out on his back like a cat before a fire; and after this operation has continued for some time, the guana falls fast asleep. Now is the moment for action; the noose is dexterously slipped over his head, and with a smart jerk he is brought to the ground. Notwithstanding his former docility and attention to the sublime strains of the whistler, he no sooner finds himself ensnared than he becomes extremely agitated and violent; the pouch under its throat swells with rage; its eyes glisten fiercely, and it extends its wide and terrible jaws. But all its efforts are now useless; for the hunter presses it to the ground with his whole strength, and holds it fast; then he ties its mouth and legs in such a manner that it is no longer capable of either defence or flight. As soon as it is thus secured, its mouth is sewed up to prevent its biting, and in this cruel state some of them are frequently exported alive from the Bahamas to America for sale; whilst others are killed, salted, and barrelled for home consumption.

In his history of Jamaica, Dr. Browne says that when properly dressed, the flesh of the guana is preferable to poultry. It is sometimes roasted, but it is more commonly boiled, and the fat previously taken out, which is melted and clarified for various uses. It is a singular fact, that the fat of the

abdomen always assumes the colour of the food which the animal has last eaten. If caught young, they may be easily domesticated. Dr. Browne had a full grown

one about his house for more than two months. For some days, at first, it continued to show symptoms of great ferocity; but at last it became tame, and passed the greater part of the day on his bed or couch. It was always suffered to go out at night. As it walked, it frequently threw out its tongue; but during all the time it was in his possession, he could not observe that it ever ate anything.

The guana is found in parts of both Africa and Asia; it is very common in Surinam, in the woods of Guiana, in Cayenne, and in Mexico; but it has become scarce in the British West Indies, in consequence of its being so much desired as food.

Notices of Books.

THE SOLDIER'S HOME, Grant and Griffith, 1856,

Is a narrative of a devout soldier's domestic life, founded on recent events that have occurred in the ever-memorable Crimean campaign, by Aunt Lizzie.' We were never of opinion that the race of devout centurions or soldiers was extinct; but that in every age, as well as in that of Cornelius, especially in the present, there have been devout men in the army that feared God with all their household; and the present narrative of Colonel Sidcot is an illustration of this happy fact. The story is told with all the nice tact and feeling of a female author; it will give much pleasure in the nursery; and will show a good example to both mothers and children.

CONFIRMATION, OR THE CITIZEN OF ZION TAKING UP HIS FREEDOM. Wertheim and Macintosh.

This excellent tract is by the Rev. W. Wilson Champneys, Rector of Whitechapel; and it seems rather to be addressed to his brethren, stating his own experience with the young of his parish, and recording his method of encouraging them to become candidates for Confirmation, and his success annually in recruiting the ranks of the Church. He says, 'I have ever looked on the preparation of candidates for Confirmation as one of the very first and most important of my ministerial duties, and have devoted nearly three months before every Confirmation for the instruction of the candidates.' 'I have carefully avoided doing anything which might have the effect of discouraging the timid, or of disheartening the most ignorant. While the whole conrse of instruction was catechetical, conducted in the form of question and answer, I have never asked any individual candidate the question, but have put it to the whole class; and then repeating both the question and the answer, have made all the class repeat the answer. By this plan, as I believe, while those who knew the reply have been