of victory! He fell, as it will be remembered, in the battle of Alexandria; and his body was afterwards removed from Egypt to Malta, where it is now interred. He was succeeded in command by the present Lord Hutchinson.

Excepting the recollection of his military character, the present Monument, erected by the vote of Parliament, in grateful acknowledgment of his public services, is all that remains to us of the immortal Abercrombie. What an illustrious depositary, however, will our metropolitan cathedral one day offer to contemplation! A revolution, if so it may be termed, has now taken effect as to the place in which we are to rear the sepulchral memorials of British worthies; and many of these memorials, it is also to be remarked, have already arisen. out of the most eventful revolution of the modern ages. The cathedral of Saint Paul seems more than likely to vie with the abbeychurch of Saint Peter. If the latter treasures the remembrance of the great men of the old age, the former will preserve the fame of the great men of the new age; and, if Westminster abbey, among some intrinsically eminent personages, records the names of numbers who were indebted to others for their apparent importance in society, perhaps it is destined for St. Paul's to swell the catalogue of those, not less to be distinguished characters, who appear to owe their individual magnificence to their personal superiority!

Mr. Westmacott, the artist to whom the execution of the Monument to General Sir Ralph Abercrombie (which is shortly to be opened for inspection in St. Paul's cathedral) has been entrusted, will acquire considerable reputation from this exertion of his abilities. He judiciously selected the most affecting incident in the fate of his hero, for the display of his own powers. Mr. Westmacott has chosen for this purpose, the exact instant of time when General Abercrombie, after receiving his death wound, no longer able to support himself, is sustained by one of his soldiers. The face of the General possesses actual likeness; and the figure of the Highlander, by whom his body is supported, is highly impressive. Here is the sublime effect of the present sculptural composition. The slain man, however, greatly heightens the feelings of the spectator. This object, so natural in the circumstances intended to be commemorated by the monument, is very properly introduced, and is admirably disposed.

per

So far from objecting to the practice of representing modern scns in modern attire, which reason requires and custom sanctions, we formerly expressed our approbation of this conduct by the rising raceof artists. We must nevertheless regret that, in the present instance, such practice entirely deprives us of those picturesque appearances, which embellish and dignify the monumental achievements of antiquity.

THE NATURALIST No. II.-FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

AN inhabitant of the northern states, on his first visit to the lower countries of the Carolinas and Georgia, is struck with the unexpected appearance and novelty of the scenery, of their less inhabited or unsettled parts; the chief characteristics of which may be given as follows: A thick flat wilderness of pines, through which the narrow road, skirted with myrtles* and gull-berry bushes,† winds through immense dreary solitudes, with sometimes only one or two huts in a whole day's journey. Marshes, branches or watery tracts, covered with loblolly bays, so closely crowded together as to shut out the light of day; dead stagnating ponds, seen through among the crowded pines, sending forth noxious exhalations, fevers, and pestilence; and prodigious cypressswamps, where a growth of timber, far surpassing in magnitude all others on the continent, rises from an ocean of reeds, having their leafless branches loaded with such vast quantities of moss, that 40 or 50 men might easily conceal themselves on one tree. It hangs waving in the wind from 3 to 12 and 15 feet long, and looks as if every tree were covered with wagon loads of tow; but what form the most disagreeable part of the features of this country, are, the dark sluggish streams which perpetually intercept the road, and are the gloomy haunts of multitudes of hideous alligators. From Newbern, in North-Carolina, along the whole low countries and coast, to the mouth of the Mississippi, and up that river as far as New-Orleans, there is scarce a creek, pond, or swamp, that is not infested with these disgusting and voracious animals. At every stage you listen to narratives of the depredations committed, at one time or other, by the alligators. The principal sufferers on these occasions are, hogs, who have ventured down to the river's side to wallow in the mud, where they are sprung upon, and soon dragged into the river. Dogs are also a very favourite morsel; and the very howling of one, on the shore, will, in a few seconds, bring 20 or 30 alligators to the surface. On a deer taking the river, the alligators have been known to allow him to pass unmolested; but to seize every dog that followed. Some of these, after having been for a minute or two under water, have disengaged themselves, and rising to the surface, have succeeded in reaching the shore, sorely gashed and mangled by the teeth of the alligator. Some dogs, however, fearlessly take the river, and when attacked, as they generally are, from behind, boldly face round, and engage the enemy in his own element; barking and snapping, and generally forcing him to disappear; for, like all tyrants, he is as cowardly as cruel. The dog then again makes for shore, and

Myrica cerifera, the wax bearing myrtle.

† A species of Vaccinium.

as often as he hears them behind him, wheels round and defends him self as before; and thus fights his way through. Negroes who venture into the river to bathe in summer, have frequently been attacked, and sometimes destroyed. It is also a singular fact, that tame ducks and geese, though they frequent these rivers and ponds in winter, yet, as soon as the warm weather commences, entirely abandon such places. The alligator is generally detested by the inhabitants, and various modes are practised to destroy him. A hunting party is formed of 30 or 40 persons, well armed with guns and rifles, who separate into two bodies, and scour the river, lagoons, and banks, for alligators. Those who have no dogs imitate their howling, and thus decoy the alligators near to the boat, while another lays them lifeless with the rifle. In this manner 200 of these animals have been killed in one excursion; that party which had killed the greatest number, being entitled to a Sometimes they prepare supper or treat from the less successful one. a small piece of hard pitch pine, of about 10 or 12 inches long, sharpen it at both ends and notch it at the middle, where they fasten a line of small rope, and run this sharpened stick into a small piece of pork; this being thrown overboard is soon swallowed by the alligator, and the rope being pulled the same moment, the stick is thrown at right angles across the monster's throat, who, unable to close its jaws, is led to the shore with very little exertion, to the great diversion of the

company.

But the most singular mode of taking and destroying this formidable animal, and which may be depended on as fact, is as follows: In the month of February, when the weather begins to get a little warm, and before the alligators emerge from their winter quarters, a party of 8 or 10 persons provide themselves with a long rope, about three quarters of an inch in diameter, furnished at one extremity with a running noose. Having arrived at that part of the bank of the river under which they suspect the alligators are lying, one of the most resolute and able divers undresses himself, and goes down to reconnoitre. The winter retreats of the alligators are large roomy excavations in the bank, at the depth of 10, 12, and even 15 feet under water, frequently protected by projecting roots of enormous cypress trees. In one of these dens the diver sometimes finds 6 or 8 large alligators, with numbers of mud turtles, dozing in a listless though not torpid state; for though they appear sensible to what is about them, yet on these occasions they are not easily disturbed. The diver having noted their number and situations, ascends to draw breath; and after a little, redescends, taking with him that end of the rope which has the running noose. Approaching the largest and most formidable one, he slides the noose gently over the tail, hind feet, and body, up to the fore legs, the animal all this time remaining quite passive. Sometimes, if they lie at a great depth, the diver is obliged

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to rise several times for breath, before he can complete his purpose; he then draws the noose as tight as he safely dare, and ascends to the surface to assist those on shore in dragging the monster, struggling, flouncing, and plunging, to dry land, where with clubs, pitchforks, &c. they torment him awhile, and then put him to death. All these means, however, have availed little to lessen their numbers; and the most effectual method to exterminate them altogether, appears to be by destroying their nests and eggs. The most interesting and circumstantial description of these, as well as of the alligator itself, I find thus detailed by Bartram:

"On turning a point or projection of the river bank,” says this traveller, "at once I beheld a great number of hillocks, or small pyramids resembling haycocks, ranged like an encampment along the banks; they stood fifteen or twenty yards distant from the water, on a high marsh, about four feet perpendicular above the water; I knew them to be the nests of the crocodile, having had a description of them before, and now expected a furious and general attack, as I saw several large ones swimming abreast of these buildings. These nests being so great a curiosity to me, I was determined, at all events, immediately to land and examine them. Accordingly I ran my bark on shore at one of their landing places, which was a sort of neck or little dock, from which ascended a sloping path or road up to the edge of the meadow, where these nests were. Most of them were deserted, and the great thick whitish eggshells lay broken and scattered upon the ground round about

them.

"The nests or hillocks are of the form of an obtuse cone, four feet high, and four or five feet in diameter at their bases; they are constructed with mud, grass, and herbage; at first they lay a floor of this kind of tempered mortar on the ground, upon which they deposit a layer of eggs, and upon this a stratum of mortar seven or eight inches in thickness, and then another layer of eggs; and in this manner one stratum upon another nearly to the top. I believe they commonly lay from one to two hundred eggs in a nest: these are hatched, I suppose, by the heat of the sun; and perhaps the vegetable substances mixed with the earth, being acted upon by the sun, may cause a small degree of fermentation, and so increase the heat in these hillocks. The ground for several acres about these nests showed evident marks of a continual resort of alligators; the grass was every where beaten down, hardly a blade or straw was left standing; whereas all about, at a distance, it was five or six feet high, and as thick as it could grow together. The female, as I imagine, carefully watches her own nest of eggs until they are all hatched; or perhaps while she is attending her own brood she takes under care and protection as many as she can get at one time, either from her own particular nest or others; but certain it is that the young are not left to shift for themselves, having had frequent opportunities of seeing the female alligator Leading about the shores her train of young ones, just as a hen does her brood

of chickens; and she is equally assiduous and courageous in defending the young which are under her care, and providing for their subsistence; and when she is basking upon the warm banks, with her brood around her, you may hear the young ones continually whining and barking like young puppies; I believe but few of a brood live to the years of full growth and magnitude, as the old feed on the young as long as they can make prey of them.

"The alligator, when full grown, is a very large and terrible creature, and of prodigious strength, activity, and swiftness in the water. I have seen them 20 feet in length, and some are said to be 22 or 23 feet long; their body is as large as that of a horse; their shape exactly that of a lizard, except the tail, which is flat or cuneiform, being compressed on each side, and gradually diminishing from the abdomen to the extremity, which, with the whole body, is covered with horny plates or squama, impenetrable, when on the body of the live animal even to a rifle ball, except about their head, and just behind their fore legs or arms, where it is said they are only vulnerable. The head of a full grown one is about three feet, and the mouth opens nearly the same length; the eyes are small in proportion, and seem sunk deep in the head, by means of the prominency of the brows; the nostrils are large, inflated, and prominent on the top, so that the head in the water resembles, at a distance, a great chunk of wood floating about. Only the upper jaw moves, which they raise almost perpendicular, so as to form a right angle with the lower one. In the fore part of the upper jaw on each side, just under the nostrils, are two very large, thick, strong teeth or tusks, not very sharp, but rather the shape of a cone; these are as white as the finest polished ivory, and are not covered by any skin or lips, and always in sight, which gives the creature a frightful appearance; in the lower jaw are holes opposite to these teeth, to receive them; when they clap their jaws together it causes a surprising noise, like that which is made by forcing a heavy plank upon the ground, and may be heard at a great distance. But what is yet more surprising to a stranger, is, the incredible loud and terrifying roar which they are capable of making, especially in the spring season, their breeding time. It most resembles very heavy distant thunder, appearing actually to cause the

earth to tremble.

"An old champion, who is perhaps absolute sovereign of a little lake or lagoon (when fifty less than himself are obliged to content themselves with swelling and roaring in little coves round about) darts forth from the reedy coverts, all at once, on the surface of the waters, in a right line; at first seemingly as rapid as lightning, but gradually more slowly until he arrives at the centre of the lake, when he stops; he now swells himself by drawing in wind and water through his mouth, which causes a loud sonorous rattling in the throat for near a minute; but it is immediately forced out again through his mouth and nostrils with a loud noise, while he brandishe's his tail in the air, and the vapour ascends from his nostrils like smoke. At other times, when swoln to an extent ready to burst, his head and tail lifted up, he spins or twirls rapidly round on the surface of the water. He acts his part like