Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-02-08

ENTERPRISE, Fla, Jan. 20.-About
twilight tonight l met old Capt. De-
vail of the Daylight. The crickets
were singing and fre-hies chasing
each other through the orange groves.
A flock of sickle-billed ibis were tiutter-
ing homeward after the tolls of the day.
The Captain exchanged civilities with
me, and said.
Il heerd you killed alligator to-
day" rf-l
Yes" 1 answered, 81 caught him
asleep in little cove and sent rifle
ball into him. 1t was long sleep for
him. He never woke up"
BLESS my buttons'' the captain said,
''You think thar's a raft of gators In
the ST. Johns river these days, but you
ought to have seen 'em thirty years ago.
LOrdy, young man, you could of walk
ed from yere to Palatka on their heads.
Little niggers wuz mighty seeerce them
days"
WHAT MAKES ALLIGAToRs SCARCE.
"What made little negroes scarce?"
/ asked.
"'Gators," was thereby. "'Gators,
sure's your born. I've seen a gator
ruin covey of ducks for dinner. A
gator knows what's good just the
same as a white man. Thirty years ago
there wuz a heap o gators in the st.
Johns"
"What has thinned them out cap
tain?" l asked.
We'll" responded the old man,
"you Yankees hev ha6 4 heap to do
with it. You travel down yere every
winter an shoot 'em. A Yankee an
nigger is death on gator. / reckon
thar's thousand gators a prowlln'
around the river with Yankee bullets
in their hides Lordy, thar's a hun
dred ton o Yankee lead been wasted
on gators in the last TWO years. Then
a heap % hunters kills 'em for their
hides and teeth. And once in awhile
a kind of ippidimmic runs through the
gators, an they get sick an die.
Take 'em all around, thar amt nigh as
many gators as they wuz thirty years
ago"
HOW ALLIGATORs SERVE ENGLIsHMEN.
Il suppose" said l, ''that there's no
doubt about an alligatOr's eating
ducks:"
Doubt about il" repeated the cap
tain. BLESS my buttons, you ask this
we're Cap'n Peters, living yere at Enter
prise, about it. He knows. seenhim
fifteen year ago with Arthur Sumner
an three English Lords-their names
was Sykes-a shoOtin' ducks up above
Persimmon island nigh onto Thorn
Hill. an the gators tux every duck
clean. Thar was Cap'n Peters an all
the lords kivered up 1.-THE maiden cane,
a poppin' away like porter bottles, an
the ducks a fallin' like rain in little
set-off from the river. As fast as a
duck fell gator picked him up. Thar
wuz three gators IN the set-off, an the
way they tux down the ducks
wuz a caution to snakes. You ought
to hev seen Peters an the Inglish lords
when they stopped shootin' an began
to look for the ducks. Thar wuzn't a
duck in sight, but thar wuZ three ga
tors with their heads out of water, look
IN at the Inglish lords an a saying
Bully for you, boys. We don't know
YOUR names, but you're a doin' us q
power O. good 1t didn't take the
| Inglish lords long to git tired o duck
shooting The gators wuzn't salts
fed with takin' their ducks, but they
made away with three of their bloOded
retrievers. LOrdy, young man, next &c
a niger a gator loves an IngGsh re-
triever."
Is THERE AN ALIAGTOR KING:
Here the old man sounded his pock'
cts, and drew up an ancient plug %
tobacco. 1t was so moist that it ap
peared 10 have been fished ont of a
hogshead Of mOlasses. The captain
planted his two teeth In it, and ripped
of a fair percentage. After chewing il
a minute the quid settled in his cheek
and he elected a rye straw.
Gators" he continued, "knOws q
heap more than a niger. They've go
some way NV talkin' with each other
an they know what's goin' on in tn,
river better than a steamboat captain
Bless my buttons, child, they know tn
! shiftin' Of every bar an chan
/. mel. l sometimes think that they
: look mp to some old gator as a boss, o
kind NV a king. Bees has kings, IN
, why not gators: Thar must be di
! rectin' spirit among them, sure. The,
hev their leaders, sure's you're born
l Rye straw No. ,. Thirty years ago
+; kept a bOardin' house over there ol
Shell Mound. 1 he'd forty-nine COWS
; givin' milk al the time, an III ALLOW
!, the house wuz always full O. boarder
at $50 a month. They went through
, four saddles Of venison every day, an
: paid two men a dollar day to hun
4 dur for the boarders.
| EXCITEMENT AMONG THE ALLIGA
1 TORS.
'LOrdy, thar use to be then any o
+ Gods quantity o gators in the lake
Why, you couldn't leave fish In a boa
five minutes but what a gator or a mig
5 ger would steal it. Rye straw No. 3.
n Well, long in June first begun to no
: tice that something wUz the matte
e with the gators. Thar wuz troubl
: among them. They seemed to hav
fallen out about something. They act
cd axcited and Uneasy like, and the,
groaned more than usual in the night
= Heaps o men noticed it besides me
l remember one mornin' we went dow,
: to the big sulphur spring run-you'v
, bin thar yourseif-an' we saw tw
= gators with their tails up agin tw
e palmetto trees a standin' on thei
+ heads. an more than two dOze
II gators in the water a lookin' OF
Another time I seen three gator
asleep on their backs IN the su
side by side, an 1 never seen a 'gatO
: a sleepin' on his back before or since
Rye straw No. 4. l knowed some
= thing was the matter. Why, bless ms
Y you'd a see gators where you never>s
Y 'em before. Old cUsses that have hes
/ in their holes fof years iefJ home an
{ padded around the lake, takin' han
e IN the trouble. And it was jest 50 fo
u forty or fifty mile up an down th
> river Sich a right smart o crawhr
/, an clawin' an swimmin' an cussir
s beat all that wuz ever seen IN FlOrida
e We got word from Blue Spring tha
n the gators had al left Palatka an
v were all headed up the river. Abou
n I L