The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-09-04
THE HUNTERS FEAST.

|
the American rivers. While in search of
the Scarlet Ibis, his boat iloatcl away and
left linn on Il barren island. lie tells his
story thus:
lay i'll stupor, almost unconscious,
how long | know not, but many hours |
am certain. l know this by the sun it
was going down when awokc-if 1 may
SO term the recovery Of my sickcncd senses.
l was aroused by Il strange circumstance:
| was surrounded by dark objects of hide
Gus shape and hue-rcptics they wcrc.-
They had been before my eyes for some
time, but had not seen them. lr,d only
sort of dreamy consciousness Of their
presence, but heard them at length my
car wasin better tune, tho strange noises
they uttered reached my intellect. 1t
seemed like the blowing Of great bellows,
with now and then Il note harder and
louder, like tho roaring Of BULL This
startled mo, and looked up, and bent my
eyes upon tho objects: they were forms Of
tho c'ocottla,c, the giant lizards-they
were alliyators. Huge ones they were,
some Of them; and many were they in
numbcr-a hundred nj least were crawling
over the i>lct, before, behind, and on all
sides around me. Their long gaunt jaws
and channcllcd shouts projected forward SO
as almost to touch my body; anil their
eyes, usually Icadcn, seemed to glaze. I'M
pcllcl by this new danger, srrang to my
feet, when, recognizing the upright form of
man, the reptiles scuttIcd off, and rIunging
l'urricdIy into tho lake, lid their hileous
bodies under the water.
The incident i'll some measure revived
nc. l saw that l was not alone: there
was company in the crocolilcs. grad
ually became more myself, and began
TO reflect with sonic degree Of coolncss
OH the circumstances that surrounded me.
My eyes wandered over tho islct; every
incil Of it came under my glance; every
Object upon it was scrutinizcd; tho moullcn
feathers Of wild fowls, the pieces OF sand,
tho fresh water muscles (unias) strcwcl
upon tic bc;.ch-;,il were examined. Sill
the barren answer, no means Of escape.
The fslct was but the head of a sand
bar formed by the eddy, perhaps gathered
togctcr within the year. 1t WIS bare of
bcrLagc, with tho exception Of few tufts
Of grass. There was neither tree nor bush
upon it; not even n stick. A raft, indcd ;
There was not wood enough 10 mako a
raft that would have floacd frog. The
idea Of raft was but briefly entertained
such thought had certainly crossed my
mind, but single glance around the isIet
dispclcd it before it had taken shape. ]
paced my prison from end to end from
side to side walked it over, tried the wa
tcr's depth; OIL all sides sounded it, wa
ding rccLlcssly in; everywhere it Lccpcncd
rapidly as l advanced. Three lengths of
myself from the isIct's edge, and was up
to my neck. srhe huge reptiles swan
around, snorting and blowing; they were
boldcr in this element. I could not have
wadcd safely ashore, even had the water
been shallow. To swim it-no-cvcn
though I swan like duck, they would
have closed upon me and quartcrcd me
before l could have made dom strokes
IIorrificd by their demonstrations, turn
cd back upon dry ground, and paced tho
islct with dripping garments. 1 contin-
ucd walking until night, which gathered
round mo dark and dismal. With night
came new voices, tho hitlcous voices of
the nocturnal swamp; the qua.qua of tho
night heron, the scrccch of the night owl,
the cry of the bittcrn, cl-l-uk of tho great
water toad, the tinkling of the bell frog,
and the chirp Of the savannah cricket, all
fell upon my car. Sounds still harshcr and
moro hidcous were heard around mc-the
splashing of the alligator, and tho roaring
of his volce-thcsc reminded mo that
must not go to sleep. 10 sleep! I dursL
not have slept for single instant. Even
when I lay for a few minutes motionless,
the dark reptiles came crawling round me,
so close that l could have put forth my
hand and touched thom.
At intervals sprang to my feet, shouted,
swept my gun around and chased them
back to tho water, into which they bctook
themselves with sullcn plunge, but with
little semblance of fear. At each fresh
demonstration Oh my part, they showed less
alarm, until 1 could no longer drive thom,
either with shouts or threatening gestures.
They only retrcatcd q few foot, forming ali
irregular circlo round me.
Thus hcmIncd in, / became frightened
in turn. loaded my gun and fired; l
killed none. They arc imperyious to q
bullet, except in the eye or under tho foro
arm. It was. fnn dirk fo min, at fI,oao