The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-01-09

] DlIu uS IL uut ltu VII lito tIS ioitcp) Va
the cry of wild animal from the tree
! top, would arouse again the whole cat
alogue of sounds.
Towards morning / was doing, and
the animal world, which seemed to be
following my example, had almost sunk
into silence, when | was aroused by a
strong musky smell, that seemed sud
denly to pervade the whole encamp-
ment. l was not properly awake, but
l fancied that some wild animal must
be near, and l cautiously looked over
| the side of the hammock.
The fires on which we had heaped
fuel before retiring to rest, had died
down, leaving only few smouldering
embcrs, which glimmered up OCCASION
ally. l could but just see the dusky
forms of the men as they lay around
me, for the moon had now set behind
the mountains; and except where the
starlight fell upon the water, or when
the Pickering light of the fire now and
then Illuminated the camp, all was black
asnight. Recalling my scattered senses,
and opening my eyes, | cast them along
the opening that led to the water. AS
l did so, l fancied l saw something
moving. l could not make out what it
was; but it came up slowly and steal
thily. At last perceived that it was
of hideous shape, and that it was NOV
| ing up towards the sleeping seamen.
For moment | dared not move or
speak, for could not see distinctly
enough to make out what it was. At
length portion of the fire gave way,
and the unburnt wood falling in among
the lighted embers, shot forth a bright
flame, and showed me the long gaunt
snout of an enormous alligator. |
seized my gun, which, fortunately, I
had the prccaution to place at the head
of my hammock, aimed at its eyes, and
pulled the trigger; but the cap only
went off. The beast was now close to
one of the men; but at the snap of the
cap he stood still and listened. l put
on another cap, and shook up the prm-
ing. BY this time the brute had ranged
up alongside Peter Byrnes, and was
just bending his tail ready for blow,
when fired
All hands were up in an instant
One of the boys, in rising, stumbled
over the beast, and knowing what it
was, beloved loudly for help. Mean
while the struggles of the alligator
were terrific, and he was blowing furi-
ously. AT last, with an expiring effort,
he turned round, and dragging himself
down to the water, plunged heavily III
to it.
No sooner had the beast disappear
ed, than we began to look about US for
the boy, but he was nowhere to be
seen. | was somewhat puzzled at this.
l had heard OF alligators dragging their
prey into the water and drown
ing it; but that one should do so in his
death-throes, and that before our faces,
without our peceiving it, appeared mar
vellous. Still, there was the fact; the
boy was gone.
After so tragical an episode, I felt no in
clination to sleep, for could not get the
thought of the poor boy out of my head
So 1 raked together the red embers of the
fire, and heaping on more wood, it soon
blazed up brightly. Then, filling my
pipe, I sat down to think.
| At last day dawned, and as the light
grew brighter, my surprise was greater
than I can describe, to see the boy, whom
| fancied had been carried off by the cay
man, quietly sleeping i'll his place among
the men. / awoke him, and asked him for
an explanation but l could get nothing
satisfactory from him, except that he had
been horribly frightened, ran off he knew
rot where, and had sneaked back into the
camp while was doing.
The first ray of the sun found us at sea
again. With our sails swelling with
fresh and invigorating breeze we passed
the point and were bowling away towards
our destination ; and by six o'clock we en-
tered the mouth of the lagoon.
And now came the aim and object of our
expedition, the procuring supply of cocoa
nuts. In this genial cline the cocoa-nut
palm grows to an amazing height, usually
from sixty to seventy feet but, in some
instances, if my eyes did not deceive me,
they rose to ninty or hundred. The
whole of the stem is clear, that is, without
limb or protuberance, and ! may say with
out bark. At any rate, they have what
may be called smooth round trunk con-
sequently it requires no little agility and
ingenuity tc climb them. This was not to
be done by agility alone, as some of our
fellows found out and here Jones proved
himself a man of resource.
1t was not the first time he had been
cocoa-nuting, and it was soon evident that
| he understood what he was about. He
had brought with him a piece of SENT,
| which the umautical reader may be in
formed is piece OF wide flat braid, formed
of rope yarns. This he fastened round his
ankles, leaving them about ten inches
apart having tried this continuance, to see
| hot f,c CT no
| This he did somewhat in the usual fashion,
by embracing the tree, and then drawing
his legs up as high as he cauld, and press
| ing the SENT band against the trunk of the
tree, raised himself bodily; and thus al
ternately raising his body with his hands.
drawing his feet up, and pressing the band
against the trunk, he assembled with great
ease and rapidity.
Peters skill was now also brought
into requisition. He had with him
what is termed a strop, a piece of rope,
the ends of which We're spliced together,
forming, when opened, a sort of hemp
en- hoop. Taking this, doubled, he en-
circled the trunk of the tree with the
two parts of the rope, and passing one
blight through the other, he separated
the second loop and slipped it over his
head and down his body till he could
sit in it. Then he began his ascent af-
ter the following fashion. First he
pushed above his head the part looped
round the tree, then planting his feet
against the trunk, he raised himself
several feet; while doing this he slip
ped up the moose, and thus worked his
way up to the top. There, sitting
securely in the loop, he leisurely picked
the nuts and dropped them at our feet.
Having cleared the tree, he slipped the
loop over his head, let the strop fall,
and slid rapidly down to the ground.
The ony interruption we experienced
in procuring our cargo was from an
army of monkeys, which came down
from the woods to witness our opera
tons. First they came in SKIES and
sevens, swinging themselves from tree
tree, grinning and chattering at us as