of trees, or covering themselves simply with earth along their edges. They become then very languid and inactive, and at this period to sit or ride on one, would not be more difficult than for a child to mount his wooden rocking horse.

"The negroes, who now kill them, put all danger aside, by separating, at one blow with an axe, the tail from the body. They are afterwards cut up in large pieces, and boiled whole in a good quantity of water, from the surface of which the fat is collected with large ladles. One single man kills oftentimes a dozen or more of large Alligators in the evening, prepares his fire in the woods, where he has erected a camp for the purpose, and by morning has the oil extracted.

"I have frequently been very much amused when fishing in a bayou, where Alligators were numerous, by throwing a blown bladder on the water towards the nearest to me. The Alligator makes for it, flaps it towards its mouth, or attempts seizing it at once, but all in vain. The light bladder slides off; in a few minutes, many alligators are trying to seize this, and their evolutions are quite interesting. They then put one in mind of a crowd of boys running after a foot ball. A black ball is sometimes thrown also, tightly corked; but the Alligator seizes this easily, and you hear the glass give way under its teeth as if ground in a coarse mill. They are easily caught by negroes, who most expertly throw a rope over their heads when swimming close to shore, and haul them out instantly."

The nest of the Alligator is built in a place forty or fifty yards from the water in thick bramble or cane. She gathers leaves, sticks and rubbish of all kinds to form a bed to deposit her eggs; she carries her materials in her mouth, as a hog does straw. As soon as a proper nest is finished, she lays about ten eggs, then covers them with more rubbish and mud, and goes on depositing in different layers, until fifty or sixty eggs are laid. The whole is then covered up, matted and tangled with long grass in such a manner that it is very difficult to break it up.

These eggs are the size of those of a goose, and instead of being contained in a shell, are in a bladder, or their transparent parchment like substance, yielding to the pressure of the fingers, yet immediately resuming its shape. They are not eaten even by hogs. The female now keeps watch near the spot, and is very weary and ferocious, going to the water from time to time only for food. Her nest is easily discovered, as she always goes and returns the same way, and forms quite a path by the dragging of her heavy body.

Capt Waterton, in his amusing book of Wanderings in South America, describes a most extraordinary adventure with an Alligator. It was first caught with a long iron hook, attached to a rope; the Indians then drew him to the shore, and Waterton himself sprang upon his back, seized his legs, and twisting them over his shoulders, rode him safely up the bank, amid the shouts and exclamations of the savages.

This very curious insect measures about three inches and a half, from the tip of the front to that of the tail; and about five inches and a half from wing's end to wing's end, when expanded. The body is of a lengthened oval shape, roundish, and divided into several rings. The wings are very large, of a yellow colour, elegantly varied with brown. The lower pair are decorated by a very large eye shaped spot on the middle of each, the border of the spot being red, and the centre half red and half white. The head or lantern is a pale yellow with red stripes.

This beautiful insect is a native of Surinam, and dur

ing the night sheds so strong a phosphoric splendour from its head or lantern, that it may be employed for a candle or torch. It is said that three or four of them tied to the top of a stick are frequently used by travellers for that purpose. A single one gives light enough to enable a person to read.

This insect is the largest of its species, and is almost the size of a hen's egg. It infests the warm parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. It is filthy and voracious, and flies out in the evening, plundering and defiling all kinds of victuals, and damaging all sorts of clothing, every thing made of leather, books, paper and various other articles.

In old houses these creatures swarm by myriads, making every part where they harbor very dirty and disgusting. In old timber and deal houses, when the family retire to sleep, they are serenaded all night by a noise made by this insect, resembling a smart knocking with

the knuckles upon wainscoting. In the West Indies it is therefore frequently known by the name of the Drum

This beetle is the most splendidly coloured of all the insect family. The ground colour of the wings is a coal black, with numerous lines of sparkling indentations of a green gold colour and highly brilliant. It inhabits South America, being most frequently found in Brazil. There is another rich and elegant species of this insect in India. Here, however, it is so very rare that the wing cases are set like a gem on rings, and worn by the great. The body is of a silky green, with broad golden bands.

THE WALKING LEAF.

This most remarkable insect is found in China. Its head is placed on a neck longer than the body itself, and is shaped like an awl, with two polished eyes, and two feelers. The wings are transparent.

This insect is generally of a beautiful green colour,