The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-12-17
ALLIeKToRs m THE BAHAMAS
Drifting Hundreds Of Miles in the Ocean
Currents-CuriOus SupsrstitiOnS.

Drifting Hundreds Of Miles in the oceNn
Currents-CuFiOus SuPsrstitiOn&
Catesby, In his Natural History Of
Carolina, Florida and the Bahama ISL
speaks Of having seen alligators on the
island OF Andres in this group. At
present there are none, and, with the OBJ
ject of finding out il there was any ira
dition current bearing upon the subject
] made inquiries through the medium OF
The Nassau Guardian. In answer TO my
questions, I lately received from the rec
tor of Inagus, at the extreme southeast OF
the group, q letter. in which he men
tions that stories Of allegators having
been drifted on logs of mahogany, and
thrown up on the shores Of the island,
are common, but that he had not been
able to verify them. However, a few
days previous to the date Of the letter,
while on q visit TO n Of the settlements,
Mr.. de Glauville. the rector, vas shown
the skin Of an alligator eight feet long
from tip to tip, which had been shot on
shore a day Of two before by a mani
whose name is given. Many logs Of ma
hogany had been cast up on the shores
Of Inagua about that time; but the ALI
gator had not been observed to land,
and had been seen on shore several times
before il was shot.
There seems, however, TO be no rea-
sonable doubt that the alligator was
drifted by the current from the south
east to Inagua IN a log Of mahogany
from San Domingo, the nearest place in
which alligators are found. This means
that it travelled q distance of from 100
TO $50 miles With regard to the occur
renee of alligators on Andres. Catesby
was a very accurate observer. and there
seems to be no reason for doubling his
statement These algators would ap-
pear to have been carried on driftwood
from the northwest coast of Cuba, a
distance of 300 miles by the gulf stream,
and cast o the edge of the Great Bs-
hama bank, whence local currents,
aided by the wind, might hare carried
them to the west coast Of Andres. The
absence Of traditions on the subject may
be owing to the fact that the present
inhabitants Of Andres are principally
descendants of persons who settled
there at aperiod subsequent to Catesby's
visit.
While on the subject Of Andres, may
J be allowed TO mention two rather curl
Gus superstitions current among the in
habitants of that interesting island2 The
interior Of the northern part of the ISL
land consists of swamps and lakes, inter-
spersed with patches of rocky ground on
which the Bahama pine Up. Bahamensis)
grows thickly. The negroes have a
great dislike to entering these pine
woods alone, or even in small compa-
MES, for they say that a peculiar race of
malevolent being, called little people,"
inhabit the trees. These creatures are
said to be like tiny men covered with
hair. They sit on the pine boughs, apd
if a man notices them and points them
out to his companions, the whole
party is rendered immovable for a day
and 9 night; but, il fire is thrown at the
little people" they disappear without
doing any harm.
The other superstition also relates TO
the pine woods. Creatures like enor-
mou hairy men. called by the negroes
Xayhoos.r are said 70 march about the
woods In schools" the largest coming
first; and when dey cotch You dey tear
ycu-r These beings are much more
dreaded than the @little people Ii looks
iAs If their name had been given BY some
travellers familiar with -Gulliver's Trav-
RS. and struck with the resemblance
between them and the terrible creatures
~ Swift's imagination.
B0th u these superrtitiong would ap-
pear 70 be traditionsof the land from
wlairh the negroes originally came. The
little people are probably = recollection
Of tie smail aboreal monkeys. while me
faylloos' represent the gcrillas Of xesa
Africa.-John Gardiner In Science.