The bee., 1884-01-19
A Lake OF Alligators.

About eight miles from Kurraebee in
Sclnde, (says the author of DRY Leaves
irom Young Egypt" ,") is q place wen worth
Inspecting TO all who are fond of the mon
SSlouS ana grotesque. A moderate ride
llrOugh sandy and sterile tract, varied
with few patches of fjungle, brings one to
grove OF tamarind trees, hid in the bOs.
ON OF which lie the grisly brood of mon
sters. Little would one ignorant of the
locale suspect that under that green wood,
In That tiny pool, which an active leaper
could half spring across, such hideOus
denlzens are concealed. Here is the pool"
said to my guide rather contemptuousIy,
but where are the alligatOrs ?" At the
same time was stalking on very boldly,
with head erect, and rather inclined to
hout the whole affair. A sudden hoarse
roar or bark, however, under my very feet,
made me execute q pirouette in the air
Win extraordinary adrOitneSs. had al
most stepped on a young croeOdihan imp
about three feet long, whose bite, small as
he was, would have been the reverse of
pleasant. Presently the genius of the
place made his appearance In the shape of
q wizard-lOoking old Fakir, who, on my
produced his wand-in other words a long
pOle-and then proceeded to "cau mp bis
spirits" On his shouting "Aoi ao~ (c0me,
come y two or three times, the water sud-
denly became alive with monsters. AT least
threescore huge auigators, some Of fifteen
feet in length, made their appearance, and
came thrOn4ng to the shore. The whole
scene reminded me of fairy tales. The SOL
.tary wood the pool with its strange In
mates; the Fakir's lonely hut on the hilIA
side; the FalCr himself, tall, swart, and
yaunt; the robber-looking Beloochee by
my side, made mp fantastic picture.
Strange, too, the control our Snowman dis
played over bis "Eons" On his motioning
with the pole they stopped, and on his
calling out "BaithOS (sit down. they lay
Hat on their stOnachs, grinning horrible
obedience with their open and expectant
jaws. some large pieces Of flesh were
thrown to them, 10 get which they strug-
gled, writhed, and fought, and tore the Aesh
into ahTeds. Was amused with the re-
specs the smaller ones showed to their
vrgown seniors. One fellow, about ten
feet long, was walking up to the feeding
ground from the water when he caught
u 8A4AlPcC VI fARObucA uAuCA l46b
behind him. It WAS odd to see tho
frightened look with which he ideled out
of the way, evidently expecting to lose
half yard of his tail before he cosss3 .ef-
feet his retreat. AT short distance, per
haps half a mile, from the first pool, was
shown another, in which the water was as
warm as one could bear IL for complete
immersion, yet even here saw some alG-
gators. The Fakir told me these brutes
were very numerous in the river about
fifteen or twenty miles to the west. Tho
monarch of the plae' an enormous aIlliga-
tor, to which the Fakir had given the
name of "Mor Sahib" ('My Lord Mor,")
never obeyed the call to come out. AS
walked round the pool was shown where
ne lay, with his head above water, immOy-
able as log, for which should have mis-
taken him but for his small savage eyes,
which glittered so that they seemed to
emit sparks. The Fskir said he was very
fierce and dangerous, and at least twenty
feet in length.