Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1879-06-04
CHASED BY AN ALLIGATOR.
Swimming for life and Escaping
by Dividing in the Mar
buddha.

"Alligators,r said Major Springle;
"of course there are alligators IN
India. Half the rivers np.cOuntry
swarm with them, and they abound
in the tanks. as the large shallow
ponds so numerous on the plains
are called. In kurrachce, close to
the entrance To the Persian gulf,
they have a tank stocked with what
they call tame ones; and visitors
can (and do) buy goats for rupee
each, and throw them in 10 the rep
tiles. And their rushing at Il goat
and tearing it to pieces lSa spccta.
Gle to make Il man torswear fresh.
water bathing in India.
"Iet the majority of people i'll
India, and especially the natives,
hold tina. an alligator is not danger
Gus to a human being. have
heard the same thing said in Florl.
da, and. for all know, it may, for
the most part, be true. But | had
an adventure once that convinced
me that "a man who wants to battle
had better content himself with the
cOnvcnienccS afforded, however i'm.
perfectly, hy his own bath room
than venture into river inhabited
by alligators.
"About sixteen miles from Jub
hulpore are the Marble rocks, one
of the sights of the Central prov
iuces. The Narbuddha, which nj
that point is very deep aud narrow.
flows slowly for about half Il mile
between perpendicular walls of pure
white marble. Two hundred feet
overhead, the rocks on either side
taper toward each other, and when
the moonlight is streaming down
through the marrow aperture, II.
luminiug the river and white cliffs
that border it. the eXcnrSlonlst.
floating in Il Hat bottomcd boat on
tho water, finds himself amid "A
scene that may well make him
doubt whether Hans AnhcrSon's pic
lures of fairy land are wholly i'm
aeinary.
"Onc Sunday morning a few
Years ago aud two friends started
in a bullock wagon tor the Marble
rocks. The NalhnddhaiS a winding
river, and five miles from Juhbul
pore we had To cross ii for the first
time in Il large boat. When We
reached the tording place we wer'
all terribly heated and tired. for ii
was searching July weather, ano
we decided to rest for an hour OF
two under the trees, and then make
up our minds whether we would
proceed or not. Myself and one o
, my companions were soon snthclent
" recovered TO resume our journey
but the third member OF our part,
was unable or unwilling to 60 on
so, leaving him in charge OF tn
y wagon, |, the other eXcnrslonlst
and the driver, walked along tn
bank of the river with our guns
We shot nothing, for at that hon
everything with fur or feather o.
il was sheltering itself from tn
s torrid heat: but we came to sma
canoe tied to the shore, and detern
ined to cross the river in 1t. III
T. native driver in vain tried to dl'
suade us. for these canoes are IN
hardest things in the world to maj
age. and this one, moreover, wa
intended to hold one man onI.
Nevertheless We got in and pushe
ID oft. In less than thirty seconds "
were all three struggling IN Il
\. water, aud, though we got asho1
without much trouble, we lost OIL
n of the guns, and the other W.
in made useless for the day.
at now occurred to us that
would be wise to hang up our sat
- rated clothes to dry, while we oat
ed in the sacred waters of the Ma
buddha. asked the native whei
"a, er there were any alligators in I
an. river, and he said Yes, plenty
he them, but they wouldn't hurt u.s. az
lge thus fortified, We were soon swi
.u ming from the shore. :,
itb "The river, where we entered
al ia about three hundred yards wi.
and was running, rs the Narbudd
nve .aams IN do all along its c0ur