Omaha daily bee., 1888-10-07
LIFE IN FLORIDA.

"Seven barrels of hides, about forty
punches of feathers, a dozen hams,
eleven pounds of teeth and one eight
foot gator. How does that strike you,
sonney, for a two-months' take on the
coast? Pretty large and luminous, ehy'
He stood on the wharf at Baton Rouge
with his hides and feathers and teeth
piled around him.
"Of course l had a half-breed helping
me most Of the time; in fact, he caught
the big gator all by himself. He saw
her young ones first, caught m of them
and then toled her into the moose. But
as he was working for board wages his
work don't count, and the VIII ole take is
mine.
"How much is it worth? Well. you
can figure 1t up for. yourself. The hides
will run about ten to IL barrel, and will
average 81 apiece: that's so, amt il?
The feathers run about three lunches
for 81, which makes Sl3 more. The
hams are worth $25, and alligator teeth
market in the rough at 81 IL pound. l
understand there is "a standing order
down here from II New York dealer for
a big gator, and if there is, mine will
bring $50 in the local market. If there
- " 1 may ESll ISl " Vl'. lllu l. ma
have to kill her for her hide. That
makes $50. and S13, and $25, and $1l,
which is $ll9 sure, and may be $50
more. Every dollar made in two
months time by just padding around
with n gun and Il rope on the lower
Bayou la Fourche. There is another
big industry down there that | did not
touch at all this year-and that is oys-
ter shoveling. The whole coast line is
a bed of oysters, and the New Orleans
market is always hungry for the bayou
oysters. But gator and pelican fishing
is good enough for me-
He moved the muscles of his face into
a smile of simlan content. while he
leaned against II barrel and scratched
his bare ankle with one of his ~sun-baked
big toes. He was Il member of the
army OF nOmadS who pepper the MiSsis-
sippi ana its tributaries with their float
ing homes, socially known rs ''shanty
boats July and August invariably
find them above Cairo. and as the
weather moderates they follow the sum-
mcr sonth, spending the winter and
spring in the bayous or on one Of the
southern lakes which teen with every
species Of wild fowl, game and vcgcta-
ton, taking their ease in their castle.
As a rule, they toll not, neither do they
spin, and it is an undisputcd fact that
Solomon was never arrayed like one of
them.
at was on a Thursday two weeks ago,
down neal Herring;s Canal in La
Fou"che Parish, that Peter caught the
big one. 1t was all new game to me.
and | did not believe he could take her
alive, and told him if he did he might
have my old one-bladed pocket knife for
her. That put him on his mettle, and
without Il word he jumped into the
pirougc and skinned across to where a
hummock. lifted itself out of the swamp.
| had noticed four or five little gators
summing themselves there: but | had no
idea what Peter wanted with them
when | saw him catch a couple and
throw them into the pirouge. Then he
took u long rope and laid down Il ten
foot moose near IL mud hole where the
OLD lady had zone down the last time
we saw her; boating the rop L4pg bits
! OF bark Hnsh he twisteithe tall Of
the little ones they cried like young
pigs, and the mex minute the old 'un's
nose broke water inside the moose. Be
fore she could find time to swim toward
him, Peter had the rope hauled tight.
and then he padded like mad down the
bayou, dragging the old one behind him
until she was so nearly chokcd that it
was Il very soft snap to tow her ashore
and fasten her down to Il board with
ropes across her neck. back and tail.
Fire hunting at night is the best
plan, and the one most followed when
hides are the object. The fire in the
bow of the canoe lights up the shores
and blinds the eyes of the gators so
that we can paddle close to them and
put II ball into one eye without trouble.
The big beast always throws himself
ashore and lashes about among the
reeds with his tail, after an eye shot,
dying in about five minutes. We never
stop to pick them up. but keep ON down
the bayou until we have killed half
a dozen or more. and the next day we
hunt them up. strip Off the skins, cut
out the jaw bones and sometimes a part
of the tail, which IS as good eating as
pork. After being buried II week or so
the teeth drop out Of the jaws, and are
ready for market.
Nov about the feathers. You want
to know what they are. They are peli-
can feathers. Every pelican has Il bunch
of these fine, hair-like feathers in each
wing, and each bunch is worth about
thirty-tive cents. The simplest way of
catching them is with "A hook and line
baited with a minnOw, which is kept on
top Of the water by means of n tloat.
The pelican sails close to the water, sees
the minnow, swoops down and is
! hooked. 1t wants to be a stout hook
and a strong line, or the big bird will
break it away, and you will not only
lose your seventy cents worth of fcath-
ers, but your tackle as WE'LL"