The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1892-04-15
CENTRAL AMERICA LIFE.
A SINGULAR ADVENTURE WITH AN
ALLIGATOR.

0'he saurian Gets n Farmer and HaIs
Horse in Serious PredicRment, Rmc
Is Finally Captured BY Very Novel
Method.
The alligator is dealt with very uncere-
moniously by the Indians of Central
America; for when dragging the large
pools of a river for fish, if one of these
creatures gets into the net, man walks
coolly into the water, throws a moose
round the fore leg, and he is straightway
drawn on shore, and killed with the axes
Of the party. Sometimes, however,
these lords of the pool give more trouble,
as the adventure we allude to will show.
One of them was perfect dragon among
the calves, and even cattle that came to
drink at the river, pulling them every
, now and then under water; til the
farmer, a dusky acquaintance of our au-
thor, became livid with rage.
One day when riding. the farmer had
the fortune to fall in with his enemy in
shallow water at some distance from his
accustomed pool and having, as usual,
his lasso with him, attached to the POM
mel of his saddle, he at once gave chase,
and as the beast was making for his
haunt, threw the moose round his neck,
and tried to drag him to a tree on the
bank. But he had entirely miscalcu-
lated his means; the horse was no match
in strength for the alligator, and was
brought upon his knees. The avenger,
therefore, was compelled to follow where
he thought to have led, and in an instant
man and horse were spinning through
the river to the opposite bank.
The predicament was serious, and the
farmer tried to sever the lasso with his
axe. But the instrument was blunt; the
hard thongs resisted its edge; and on
dashed the alligator. with his prisoners
in his wake. Down Numbered the three,
through shadows and deep water, rat
tling over stones, plunging in pools, till
voice of terror came upon the far
mer's ear-the roar of fall of the
river as high as housed On hearing
this, the first thought that darted
through the mans mind was that ho
was about to die unconfessedl He now
remembered, all on a sudden, that there
must be knife in the pocket of the
sheepskin mantle; and succeeding after
some trouble in getting at it, he al
length severed his towrope.
For nights after, said the farmer,
could not sleep; or if did for mo-
ment, awoke fancying myself going
again on my perilous voyage down the
river-sometimes soused to the bottom OF
pool, and sometimes tumbling and roll
ing about among the big stones-until
at last took such violent hatred to
this particular alligator that used to
lie awake all night thinking how to be
avenged. used to go to the pool every
morning to try to get sight of him, and
one morning / did see him; but what
made me still more angry was, to see the
loop Of the lasso still round his neck, for
all the world like necklace; he must
have gnawed off the remainder about
yard from the moose. I then went home,
loaded my long Spanish gun very care-
fully with two balls, and taking with me
a cur of a dog, who could do nothing but
yell and howl, I returned to the pool, and
tied the dog to the tree close to one Of
the alligator's paths. then took long
string, and making it fast to the ours
leg. hid myself behind another tree, and
began to pull hard at the string, and the
dog began to howl Justify. In a short
time the lagarto's nose appeared above
water, and then his eyes and head; both
dog and alligator must have seen each
other pretty clearly, which made the dog
howl more than ever. The beast, after
looking around to see if the coast was
clear, made straight for the shore, and
was just creeping up the steep bank to
seize the dog, when fired my long barrel
at him, not five PAGES distant, and sent
ball just into his eye. He was dead be-
fore you could say save Marial" and,
Don Jorge, slept soundly that night,
and gave the cur dog good supper.