Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-09-24

STORIES OF A DREADED MONSTER
IN SOUTH AMERICA.

IN SOUTH AMERICA.
Vhc.- Reptiles Attain Enormous Size
AVID Frequently Terrorize the Ma
,ivr.-AIihough Naturally Savage tho
Sa"rinn Can BE Tanned by Gentle
Tr-ntment.
Until II short time ago there lived in
New York City II physician who had
spent many years il South America, and
Nhp was well informed in natural his
'"iy. His great deli ght was to tell stories
bout animals. Some of them are given
% ~.
"Whi'e exceedingly rich in vegetation,
South America is poor in the higher
forms of animal life, " he said. But al
though the higher animals are scarce,
birds and insects are numerous, and the
reptiles especially are large and plentiful.
Of the reptiles, the alligator is one of the
most disIiknl. That terrible creature
zee Is on fish carrion and animals which
tt is successful enough to surprise as they
Home to drink at he waters edge. Man,
also. frequently falls a victim, and for
that reason the natives of places where
the alligator is cpnmon have devised
various methods for killing it. There
was pond near where | was once stay
ing, where the wild cattle went in herds
to drink, and there hunters used to lay in
wait for tlem. One day one of the
hunters going into the water came across
an alligator, which seized him by the
knee. He began to call for help, but
his comrades, instead of coming to his
rescue. ran away, thinking he had fallen
INTO the hands of the hostile natives.
The alligator had not good hold of his
knee, but would not let go while the
man struggled The hunter had presence
Of mind enough, however, to become
still, and pretend that he was dead;
whereupon the alligator loosened his hold
to take new and securer one. When it
did so the man pulled away his knee and
imterposed his gun, which the creature at
once seized so savagely and firmly that
it was jcrked out of the mans hands.
AT another time small Indian village
IN which | was staying was periodically
terroriz"l by one of its Inhabitants being
carried off by Il large alligator. The ma
lives became worked up to such pitch
the terrible visitor at any cost. Accord
ingly, two powerful men were chosen to
watch for it and destroy it. One night
t}ey saw monster alligator rise out of
the river and climb on a rock to rest.
Forgetting all about danger, they waded
in the river until they were only short
distance away from it, when they took
true aim and thrust two harpoons into
its body. After struggle they killed
that terror Of the village. From the tip
of his nose to the end of his tail he meas
ured fifteen feet. being one of the largest
ever slain. The two men who killed him
were, of course, the heroes of the hour.
"The natives in some parts Of South
America are bold and reckless enough to
give them some chance of fighting the
alligator in the water. They dive under
it and plunge "A long dagger into its belly,
and after few struggles the hated mon
strr turns over Oh lis back and dies
"Although the alligator is truly mon
ster, it can, by gentle treatment be made
tame In one of the So nth American
villages man caught young alligator.
and in time it became SO tame that it
Woulu 1OllOW MIN around ike Il uOS, ana
even scramble up stairs after him. 1t
was a very atfectionate creature. Its
great favorite was cat of the house,
and the cat seemed to like it in return.
If it saw the cat asleep, it wonld lie
down beside it and place its head upon
the cat and go to sleep, too. That cat
and alligator were nearly always to-
gether, and whenever one was absent the
other seemed restless. But that alIiga-
tor also had its dislkes. 1t seemed es-
pecially to hate a small dog of the house.
and every time it got chance would
beat the dog numerically with its tail,
never thinking of attacking it with its
mouth. For a long time the pet alliga-
tor was kept alive by being fed on raw
meat and milk. One day, however, the
cat died. and not long after this the ali-
gator died, too. The people of the house
felt sure that it died from a broken heart
because the cat was gone.