The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1883-06-26

and shuddered when they thought of il
and realized that they were now looking
upon the very spot on which it had all
happened Fortunately for Mr.. Bartram
another alligator equally as formidable
had also made up his mind to test the
eating qualities of a man, and so with like
pompoSlty had started out from the op-
posite shore of the "lagoon." He saws ::
They suddenly dart upon each other The
boiling surface OF the lake marks their rapd
course, and terrific conflict commences. They
now sink 10 The bottom folded together in horrid
WrcathS. The water becomes thick and ,lisc0l
"rcd. Again they rise, their jaws slap together.
re- echomg through the deep surrounding forests
Again they sink, when the contest ends at the
muddy bottom of the lake, and the yapuuished
makes hazardous escape, hiding himself in the
muddy, turbulent waters and scdge on a distant
shore The proud victor exutinr returns to the
place of action. The shores and forest resonnd
with his dreadful roar, together with the tri-
umphing shouts of the plated tribes around,
Witnesses of the horrid combat.
This fight seems to have given Mr..
l5artram a terrible scare, so he pnt back
for camp His gun didn't happen to be
Ill his boat, but he had stout club aboard
he alhgators went for him, coming from
every direction, and attempting to over
set his boat. He whaled them over the
head with his club and kept them beat
oh' though they almost snapped him in
th" face, throwing dirty water all over
hlm from their mouths lie finally made
tor the shore and got clear of them, haul
ing hlS boat out to prevent their over
setting and sinking her. He continues.
arcordm@ to the old mans reading:
It was by this time dusk, and the aligators
had nearly ceased their roar, when was again
alarmed hy a tumultuous noise, that seemed to
bc III my halbor, and therefore engaged nv i'm
mediate attt ntinn. Returning to nv camp |
l"lIn'i II unaisturicd, AMI then continuing on to
t"r extreme point OF the plomOnotorv saw
scene new and surprising. which at first threw
my = nsco into such a tumult that il was some
tlhr before gould conpr hcnd what was the
matter; however, soon accounted for the pro-
N'gi"uS A>N"mhlaGc ot Crocndcs AT this place
winch exceeded everything OF the kind | had
ever heard ol. How shall express myself SO rs
I" convey an adequate idea OF il tn the reader
ana at III" same time avoid raising suspicious of
my want OF vcrACN? Should | say that the
river IN tins place, from shore To shore and per
hAiN near hali Il mile above and below me- an
pchrrd To be one solid bank of fish, of various
KINDS, pushing through ths narrow of st .Juans
INTO ih" little lake, on their return down the
lNcr and that the agatnrs were in such in
shore 10 shore, that it would have been easy to
have walked across on their heads had the ami.
mai> been halmlc>s? What expressions can
-'ltl!t1cntiy declare tn. shocking scene that for
some minutes continued whil-t this mighty
amy ot fish were forcing the pass: During this
attempt, thousands, | may say hun,&.ds of
thousands, 0i them were caught and swallowed
l'y III" dcyuuring alliaator> | have seen an al
ilGat"r take up ont of the water several large
lIoh At "A time, and ust squeeze them between
hi' "a" :, Whlc The tails of .ic great trout apped
about his eyes and lips ere he had swallowed
them. The horrid noise OF closing jaws, their
piunglng amidst the broken ranks of fish. and
rising with their prey some feet upright above
the water, The floods of water and blood rushing
out "l their mouths and clouds OF vapor issuing
from their wllc noStrils were truly irightlul
There was no mistaking the location.
All this had doubtless taken place right
here, but where were the alligators now
| p to this time We had not seen so much as
single specimen. Under favorable cir
cumstances they live to be more than a
hundred years of age, it is said Had
steam and it accompanying firearms rem
dcred uniavorable the conditions for all-
gator longevity: Had the march of hu-
man civilization led to an alligatoran en-
lIratlon To more congenial regions?
In the midst of lively interchange of
views touching these questions there was
a sudden interruption and regular STAN
pedr of everybody towards one side of
the boat Some one had seen an alliga-
tor lying on the bank Of the river as if
asleep; and now all hands could see him,
great, rough old fellow, ten or fifteen
feet long, and not more than twenty PAGES
away from the passing steamer How
they shuddered at the sight of him, those
Northern Ladies', who never before, in all
their days, had seen a real live alligator
And when at last his aligatorship, think
ING the boat must be coming little
nearer his side of the stream that the
channel required, suddenly reused up,
faced towards us, and plunged into the
water, they hurredly ran to the opposite
guard of the steamer, apparently under
the impression that the monster was GO
ing for us as his ancestors had gone for
Mr.. Bartram. But he was going for the
bottom Of the river, of course-we saw no
more of him for that trip.