The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-05-14

mouth. which he ground to pieces, and
the finpers of the holder were so para
lived that, for some minutes, he was in
capable OF resuming his gun.
The natives had now become so ex-
cited as to forget all prudence, and the
women and children Of the little hamlet
had come down to the shore, to share in
the general enthusiasm. They crowded
to the opening, and were so unmindful Of
their danger that it was necessary to drive
them back, with some violence. Had
the monster known his own strength,
and dared to have used it, he would have
gone over that spot with force which
no human power could have withstood'
and would have crushed, or carried with
him into the lake, about the whole popu-
iation of the place. 81 70 HG
1t is not strange that personal safety
was forgotten in the excitement of the
scene. The tremendous brute. CALLED
with wounds and repeated defeat, tore
his way through the foaming water,
glancing from side to side, in the vain
attempt to avoid his foes. then rapidly
ploughing up the stream. he grounded on
the shadows, and turned back. frantic and
bewildered at his circumscribed position.
At length, maddened with suffering, and
desperate from continued persecution, he
rushed furiously to the mouth of the
stream, burst through two of the nets;
and | threw down my gun in despair, for
it looked as though his way. at last, was
clear to the wide lake. But the third
net stopped him, and his teeth and legs
had got entangled in all. This gave us
a chance of closer warfare with lances,
such as are used against the wild buffa-
10. We had sent for this weapon, at the
commencement of the attack, and found
it much more efectual than guns. En-
tering canoe, we plunged lance after
lance into the alligator, as he was strug-
Cling under the water, till a wood SEEM
ed to be growing from him, which moved
violently above, while his body was con-
cealed below. His endeavors to extri-
cate himself, lashed the water into foam,
mingled with blood; and there seemed
no end to his vitality, or decrease to his
resistance. till lance struck him directly
through the middle of the back. which
an Indian, with heavy piece of. wood,
hammered into him, as he could catch an
opportunity. My companion, on the
other side, now tried to haul him to the
shore, by the nets to which he chad fast
ened himself, but had not sufficient as
sistance with him. As / had more force
with me, we. managed, with the aid Of
the women and children, to drag his head
and part Of his body on the little beach,
where the river joined the lake, and,
giving him the g coup de grace, . left him
to gasp out the remnant of his life on the
sand. @ g,a
I.regret to say that the measurement OF
the length Of this animal was imperfect.
1t was night when the struggle ended,
and our examination of him was made
by torch-light. l measured the circum-
ference, as did also my companion, and
it was over eleven feet Immediately be.
hind the fore legs. 1t was thirteen feet
at the belly, which was distended by the
immoderaie meal made on the horse. As
ne was only part out of the water, l
stood, with line, at his head, giving the
other end to an Indian, with directions to
take it to the extremity of the tail. The
length SO measured was twenty-five feet;
but at the time, | doubted the good faith
of my assistant, from the reluctance he
manifested to enter the water, and the
fears he expressed that the mate OF the
alligator might be in the. vicinity From
the diameter of the animal, and the re-
presentations of those who examined him
afterwards, we believed the length to
have been about thirty feet. AS we in
tended to preserve the entire skeleton,
with the skin, we were less particular
than we otherwise should have been.
On opening him, we found, with other
parts of the horse, three legs entire, torn
off at the haunch and shoulder, which he
had swallowed whole, besides a large
quantity of stones, some of them of
several pounds weight, "A s,5 aar
The night, which had become very
dark and stormy, prevented us from be-
ing minute in our investigation; and,
leaving directions to preserve the bones
and skin. we took the head with us, and
returned home. This precaution was in
duced by the anxiety, of the natives to Sc
cure the teeth; and | afterwards found
that they attribute to them miraculous
powers in the cure or prevention of dis
eases. 81 k.,E.s#at..; -
The head weighed nearly three hun
dred pounds; and so well was it covered
with flesh and muscle, that we found
balls quite fattened which had been dis
charged into the mouth, and at the back
Of the head, at only the distance Of a few
feet, and yet the bones had not single
mark to show that they had been touched.
e Nix. BUcHANAN's Speech. This Sena-
tors great effort in favor Of Sub.Treas;-
ury and low prices, gives his friends
more trouble than almost any thing else.
The Lancaster Herald, (Harrison) a few
weeks ago, proposed to the Locofoco pa.
per to publish Bnchanan's speech, if the
other would publish Davis reply. IN