Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 3 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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(* This Striking Analogy Was Ascertained By M.
Geoffroy De Saint Hilaire In 1803 When General Rochambeau Sent A
Crocodile From
San Domingo to the Museum of Natural History at Paris.
M. Bonpland and myself had made drawings and detailed descriptions
In
1801 and 1802 of the same species which inhabit the great rivers of
South America, during our passage on the Apure, the Orinoco and the
Magdalena. We committed the mistake so common to travellers, of not
sending them at once to Europe, together with some young specimens.)
On my second visit to the Havannah, in 1804, I could not return to the
Sienega of Batabano; and therefore I had the two species, called
caymans and crocodiles by the inhabitants, brought to me, at a great
expense. Two crocodiles arrived alive; the oldest was four feet three
inches long; they had been caught with great difficulty and were
conveyed, muzzled and bound, on a mule, for they were exceedingly
vigorous and fierce. In order to observe their habits and movements,*
we placed them in a great hall, where, by climbing on a very high
piece of furniture, we could see them attack great dogs. (* M.
Descourtils, who knows the habits of the crocodile better than any
other author who has written on that reptile, saw, like Dampier and
myself, the Crocodilus acutus often touch his tail with his mouth.)
Having seen much of crocodiles during six months, on the Orinoco, the
Rio Apure and the Magdalena, we were glad to have another opportunity
of observing their habits before our return to Europe.
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