The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1879-04-26
OUR STORY TELLER.
CHASED BY AN ALLIGATOR.
swimming for Life mud Escaping by nj,
lug In the Narbuddhs. ft.rTf
Now York SUM-

Swimming for Life mud Escaping by NV,
lug In the Narbuddhs. tiJT
NEW York sun an.
"Alligators," said Mr.. Sprinele, F" of
course there are alligators in India.
Half the rivers up-country swarm with
them, and they abound in the tanks, as
the large shallow ponds so numerous on
the plains are called. In Kurrc chez,
close to the entrance to the Persian
Gulf, they have tank stocked with
what they call tame ones; and visitors
can land do) buy goats for a rupee each,
and throw them in to the reptiles. And
their rushing at a goat and tearing it to
pieces is a spectacle to make man for
swear fresh-water bathing in India.
Yet the majority of the people in
India, and especially the natives, hold
that an alligator is not dangerous to n
human being. | have heard the same
thing said in Florida, 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 him.
self with the conveniences afforded.
however imperfectly, by his own bath.
room than venture into a river inbab
tied by alligators.
About sixteen miles from Jubbul.
pore are the Marble Rocks, one of the
sights of the Central Provinces. The
Narbuddha, which at that point is very
deep and narrow, flows slowly for about
mile between perpendicular walls of
pure white marble. Two hundred feet
overhead, the rocks on either side turn
toward each other, and when the moon.
light Is streaming down through the
narrow aperture, illumining the river
and the white cliffs that border il. the
excursionist, floating in fiat-bottomed
boat on the water finds himself amid a
scene that may we'll make him doubt
whether Hans Anderssen's pictures of
fairy land are wholly imaginary.
On Sunday morning two years ago
! and two friends started in bullock
wagon for the Marble Rocks. The
Narbuddha is winding river. and five
miles from Jubbulpore we had to cross
It for the first time in a large boat.
when we reached the fording place we
we're all terribly heated and tired, for it
was scorching July weather, and we de-
clded to rest for an hour or two under
the trees, and then make up our minds
whether we would proceed or not. Nv
sell and oue of my companions were
soon sufficiently recovered to resume
our journey, but the third member of
our party was unable or unwilling to
go on; so, leaving him in charge of the
wagon, myself and the other excur-
slonlst and the driver walked slong the
bank of the river with our guns. we
shot nothing, for at that hour eyerv-
thing with fur or feather on II was
sheltering itself from the torrid heat !;
put we came to small canoe tied to the
shore, and determined to cross the river
IN It. The native driver in vain tried
TO dissuade us, for these canoes are the
hardest things in the world to manage,
and this one, moreover, was intended to
hold one man only. Nevertheless. we
got in and pushed off. In less than
thirty seconds we were all three strug-
CLING IN the water, and, though we
got ashore without much trouble, we
lost one OF the guns, and the other was
made useless for the day. s q 81
1t now occurred to us that it wopld
pc wise to hang up our saturated clothes
70 dry, while we bathed in the sacred
watersof the Narbuddha. / asked The
-snative whether there were any allipa-
tors in the river, and he said YES
plenty OF them, but they wouldn' hurt
US, and thus fortified we were soon swim
ming from the shore. ~sl17
y The river where we entered it is
about three hundred yards wide, and
was running, as the ,Narbuddha -seems
70 do all along its course, very slug
gishly. The opposite side is long.
low, sand-bank, and behind that is q
dense jungle. l was very proud of nv
powers as swimmer in those days.tand
| started to go across.
Three hundred yards is no great dis.
lance, you will say for good swimmer
70 traverse in the water. No; but with
an Indian sun beating down upon nv
uncovered head, felt, before l had got
two-thirds of the way over, that / had
made blunder that might cost me nv
life. / swan on, however, and landed
on the sand-bank with my head dizzy
and my eyes blurred-very fair indica-
ions that sun-stroke is threatening.
Il had drifted some distance down
the river, and now l walked back, get.
ting worse rather than better, until |
was little way above the point from
which had started. In the middle of
the river was small island, with afew
withered palm trees on it, and to this
tried to swim. ! swan slowly. fire.
quently ducking my head under the, wa
ter; and when / was within sixty or
seventy yards of the downstream end
OF the island, and feeling in better con-
dition, l saw, coming around point
that jutted some distance out from the
side OF the island, what looked like the
end Of thick broomstick, floating per-
pendicularly down the stream. Ididn't
wait to examine it, for ] knew at the
first glance that it was the horn that
rises from an alligator's nose. IaItered
my course at once, swimming dag
onally down the stream; I passed the
island, and got over nearly a third of
the distance to the shore, before / ven
tured to look around. Up to that mo-
ment the alligator had not seen me, but
before could resume my race for the
land part Of the great head surged