168 MARTIN RATTLER.

It was some time before the Negroes could effectually
subdue their merriment, but at length they succeeded,
and applied themselves vigorously to the work of
cutting out the fat. The alligators were all cut open,
a work of no small difficulty owing to the hard scales
which covered them as with coats of mail; then the
fat, which accumulates in large quantities about the
intestines, was cut out and made up into packets in
the skins of the smaller ones, which were taken off
for this purpose.

These packets were afterwards carried to the
senhor’s dwelling, and the fat melted down into oil,
which served for burning in lamps quite as well as
train oil. The flesh of a smaller species of alligator,
some of which were also taken, is considered excellent
food; and while the Negroes were engaged in their
work, Barney made himself useful by kindling a large
fire and preparing a savoury dish for “all hands,”
plentifully seasoned with salt and pepper, with which
condiments the country is well supplied, and of which
the people are exceedingly fond.

There was also caught in this lake a large species
of fish called pirarucu, which, strangely enough, found
it possible to exist in spite of alligators. They were
splendid creatures, from five to six feet long, and

covered with large scales more than an inch in