The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1893-10-07

kSv Sue spcrs :. 5ar1ied on In h fies.
ida s-spps.
T1e 5le apparent purpose OF ali who
jor ry h~1tt- FLORIDA is to see alli-
gatcrs, nd to keep account of the
iier they a,vs rsen, as desperate
Indians In ye,lcv-covered books tote
up the s"m OF the scalps they have
If ed. - first the St. Johns river is
Of the broad type Of Floridian streams
"a wide expanse Of frctted blue walled
in tamely with banks Of low vegeta-
ton. There are only two types. that
and the ~tortuous narrow sort, running
like leafy lanes in cramped ribbons,
hedged close by trees. 1t is when the
St. Johns is compressed and squeezed
until it wriggles like q landed eel
that the search for gators be-
gins I had never seen q wild alligator
At large when / made the voyage, and,
to tell the truth, 1 had seen 30 many
others like me, and such signs OF gen.
eral Slaughter of the saurians, their ba-
bies, and even their eggs, that ! fan.
cied I might leave Florida with the luck
of nj who goes to Dakota to get q shot
at a buffalo. But I was wrong. Not
all the alligators are killed yet, though
that consuInmation is not far of in the
older parts of Florida. When we came
to the narrow end of the river we saw
plenty Of the amphibians, and discov-
cred also that they are apparently the
only things that induce the captain to
raise his voice and to betray an inward
excitement
Alligator on the left banki QuickI"
he shouted to all the passengers SAL
ligator-big one-on the left bank,
close ahead"
Sure enough, there was the huge
lizard-like animal upon the low bank,
between the water and the trees, where
he had been basking until the approach
of the boat aroused him. Already,
with a snakish motion, he was moving
toward the river, his head sweeping in
one direction, and his thick. strong tail
in the other. There was time to SEQ
der how the captain detected a thing so
nearly the color Of the earth it rested
upon, when, with a graceful giant
wriggle. the beast slipped into the
river, and showed us only a black sDout
and two bump-like eyes ripping the
surface of the stream.
There were some persons among the
passengers who all but ravei with de-
light over the beauty of the scenery in
the narrow part of the river. Pretty
it is, but not extremely beautiful, and
the cxtravagant expressions of those
who find extreme beauty where others
see only tameness, or. at the utmost,
mere prettiless, inspire compassion for
all who live where nature is ILL
favored or tedious, rs on the plains,
for instance. The St Johns was here
a pretty winding stream. curving
amid more or less dense growths Of
oak, cypress, and palmetto. Spanish
moss hung its g~reenish-gray tails
upon many of the trees. and aug
mented the strangcness of the seem
cry; for strange it would seem
to any American from beyond
the few states that border the
gulf of Mexico. 1t got its pref
tiness from the fresh new green that
sitLuTC Vas lisiSHilH upOu luc ttCSo
and the underground. So narrow was
the stream hat the boat was seen to
push the water ahead of it, and to suck
a great bilIow along behind tia bill
low hat crashed upon the low banks
and hurried the cows ashore, the buz-
yards to fight, and the turtles and alli-
gators off their restinS-p!accs. The OK
%pericnce suggested steamboating OIL
some crooked narrow route like Pearl
street in New York; but sometimes the
loops in the stream were so sharp that
steamers making the same coarse ap-
pearrd to be, and were, going in oppo-
site directions. The turtles were anus
ing. Sometimes half a dozen would drop
from a projecting log to fall upon their
backs and scramble wildly into correct
positions. Lazy and beautiful cranes
were seer at times, and the boat passed
many buEzard roosts. where the great
ugly birds were seen stalking awk-
wardly on the earth, or roosting like
turkeys on the tree limbs. Isaw eleven
alligators. many of them very large.
One favored me with an exhibition Of
his pedestrianism by turning into the
woods instead of the water. It was
worth seeing. lie lifted his head and
six-sevenths Of his tail above the ground
upon ungainly legs that stood out from
his body almost like a SPIDERS limbs.
Then he walked as If he had not
learned how. The customary man
with a gun, and with a general and
all-enbracing ambition to murder some
thing. had come upon the boat to
kill an alligator. This he was forbid
den to do. and I think l am right in
saying that from no steamboat running
in Florida is shooting now permitted.
The captain explained why this was
when he said: "If passengers were al
lowed to shoot, they would b, apt to
alarm or anger the people ashore, and
some of the crackers would be sure to
turn and send a fusillade of buckshot
into the boat" Those who have fol-
lowed my experiences in other parts of
the south will be interested in this fur
Their proof Of the fact hat steamboat
ing there is not unlike managing a
travelling target for buckshot.-Ju lian