Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1855-05-04
5elertrh Mlsrellang
THE HUNTERS FEAST

Captain Mayne Reid, in his Hunter S
Feast gives the following graphic ac-
count Of a thrilling adventures he had on
one of our wild Western rivers. While
in search Of the scarlet ibis, his boat float
ed away and left him on barren island.
He tells his story thus ..'
| lay in a state of stupor, almost un-
concious how long, l konw not; but man
ny hours L am certain. L knew this by
the sun; it was going down when | awoke
lll may SO term the recovery of my
stricken senses. | was aroused by u
strange circumstance; was surrounded by
dark objects of hideors shape and hue
reptiles they were. They had been before
my eyes for some time, but had only a
sort of dreamy consciousness Of their pres
encc; but | heard them at length; my ear
was in better tune, and the strange noise
they uttered re ched my intellect. ltscem-
ed like the blowing of Il great bellows,
now and then note harder and louder,
like the roaring of a bull. This started me
and ] looked up and bent my eyes upon
the objects; they were the forms of the
crocolilidg, the giant lizards---they were
alligators. Huge ones they were, some
of them; and many they were in number,
a lun lred at least were crawling over the
islet, before, behind, and on all sides
around me. Their long gaunt jaws and
channelled snouts projected forward so as
almost to touch my body; and their eyes,
usually lcaden, seemed now to glare. I'M
pclled by this new danger spr; n to my
feet, when, recognizing tic up i hit form
of man, the r.ptiies scutll,d off, and p u1g-
ing hurriedly into the lake, hid their hid
eous bodies under the water.
The incident in some measure revived
me. l saw that l was not alone; there
was company even in the crocodiles.e |
gradually became more myself, and began
to reflect with some degree of GOODNESS on
the circumstances that surrounded me-
My eyes wandered over the islet; every
inch of it came under my glance; every OBJ
ject upon it was scrutinized: the moulted
feathers of wild fowl, the pieces Of sand,
the flesh water muscles unias )strewed up
on the beach--all We're examined. Still
the barren answer, no means of escape
! The islet was but the head of sand bar
flrMed by the eddy, perhaps gathered to-
gether within the year. 1t was bare OF
herbage, with the exception of few tufts
of grass. There was neither tree nor bush
upon it;not slick. Aratt, indeed! There
was 1t wood enough to make raft that
wcu:d have hoated frog. The idea of a
rat was but briefly entertained; such a
thought had certainly crossed my mind,
bnt single glance round the islet dispell-
ed it before it had taken shape. | paced
my prison from eld to end; from side to
side | walked it over | tried the waters
depth; on all sides sounded it, wading
recklessly in: everywhere it deepencd rap
idly as advanced Three lengths of my
sc from the eislet's edge, and l was up to
the neck. The huge reptiles swan around
snorting and blowing; they were bolder in
this element. | could not have waded,
safely ashore, even had the water been
shallow. TO swim it--no-cvcn though
swan like duck, they would have clos
ed upon and quartercl me before could
have made dozen strokes. Horriiicd by
their demonstrations, turned back upon
dry ground, and paced the islet with drip
! ping garments. | continued walking un-
til night, which gathered round me dark
and dismal. With night came new voic-
es, hideous voices of the nocturnal
swamp the qua-qua of the night heron,
the screech of the swamp owl, the cry ol
the bittern, the cl-leuk of the great watc,
toad, the tinkling ofthc ll-frog, the chiI
ofthe savanna cricket, all tcllupon my ear
Sounds still harher and more hidcous
were heard around me--the splashing o,
the alligatofs, and the roaring of his voics
these reminded me that must not 90 tc