The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-04
SEA MONSTERS IN BATTLE.
4 FIERCE ENCOUNTER BETUEEy
SHARKS AVN ILLTGATORS.
The Bie snurisrS Were Enable 20 Nyt,s.
stand the sharks. bat They Fouub.
Them with the Utmost pctrr-tr,Vo.

The Hse Srurisns Were Unable 70 WITH.
stand the sharks, hat Thev Foyub,
Them with the Utmost Dcter-tp.,I,,
"Thc strnngest sea fghtI over saw or hoard
Of" said astafr officer of the navy now stattonrI
In Washington, was n battle that ragged oT ,ba
Pacific coast Of Mexico between SHARKS and nj.
l~igatOrs. Our ship was at anchor bccalncd pnt
far from ManzanillA, and some OF In, ofiror.
had gone ashore ON one If tine little vovaQes of
discovery that seem 10 delight navy men IN
foreign lands. We learned from some nj III.
natives OF the fight which was then In uoore..
and reached the battle field when the combat
was nt it's fercest.
ITO mako clear the natural c,uscs which
brought about this liomcric contest. il viii n.
necessary 10 describe the country. Betwec,
Manzaniila and Colima. a distance of eirn,,
miles, there IL n large lake Of brackisb va,cr.
the bed Of which Is several lcrt above the sra
This lake Is about forty miles long. and wos
once most important as a means of communica-
ton between the two places, particularly rs in
Mexico formerly the roads were besct by brig.
ands. md land transportation was Of the most
primitive character. The lake was hllcd with
fresh-water fish and reptiles Of all kinds, and
the alligators that summed themselves on its
banks often attained a length OF from twenty to
thirty feet. They were very fierce when
aroused from their accustomed lethargy. much
more voracious than even the South American
species, and often seized and devoured men and
large animals. The barrier separating the
ocean from the lake Is n high sand bank which,
though nothing more than a mere spit Of land,
had been. prior to this time. SUFFICIENT TO con6ne
tho waters Of the lake. But heavy wind storm
from the northeast blew the water OF the lake
down to the south and west, and piled II up so
high IA TO drive IL over the levee or dam. After
n short time a crevasse or sluice was formed, all
lowing the lake to drain directly into the ocean.
The rush Of water from the lake increased, the
sluice became broader. and the 400 square
miles of lake surface fell four feet. Millions Of
fish came pouring through the crevasse with the
water, and with these. the enormous alligators
for which the lake had become noted.
THE sluice was fifteen feet wide when We
reached It,, We stood on one OF. the banks
fish. Tie latter had attracted the numerous
big sharks of Manzanilla Bay. and they had coll
for manhsr;, The aliigators, less intent, per
Which was carrying them on, were met by the
sharks the moment they came out into deeper
more slothful nlligators. and at once the battle
began. The alligator. q course, labored under
often known to swim out To sen and spend whole
weeks in salt water. the alligator is not found in
capped by being o1t OF. their element. They
were also beset by a shoal OF carnivorous fish Of
six sharks would attack each saurian MS he
mtg 10 form themselves into a mas. FOR eoncen.
trated attack or defence.
mination on both sides. and the ailisators. not.
withstandinr many difficulties. and being far
Gap, ,Re n shark pa" az s Sn a Sn ygry d ESGf t tisnt; Th by
fur1ous pnslaughts. Each fish and reptile
seemed 70 understand clearly the character Of
bis antagonist, and the powerful tails were
mensc Jaws. While the alligators were more
slnN. IN NOVA fhnn tha sharta tEu lattnr v.r
obliged 10 turn over on Their backs before being
able to bite with any effect. This gave. the ALT
Wiry. horny nls"t tails ffatso " action. Al tthhi%nn .H the
hard. bony nrmor OF the alligators prevented
around as rapidly as the FISH, often they could
dash forward and snap a shark before the fish
when one considers that the shark has speed
and activity so great as to allow him to swim
will be very readily seen that the issue Of the
battle was only a question OF time. or course
movements, was en;eacious Tor q time against
the blows and bites OF HIS adversary. But after
tore i away = BIT BY BIT. and dnnliy With u a furious sniSrs
rush the huge shark would fix its sharp teeth in
p part riot Of tt fh'p Alligator dhg Sn"s ss II th tSs arn a Tu Msre ss
~eggsL.ell. The wonderful strength of the alliga-
shnrE saw We're gam tSr tSso almost I,ay: s o@t ~ st% me % Ma, again
The fight was carried on upon the surface
Of The water over an area Of a quarter OF q mile,
beach, and from our position we could see many
OF the movements OF the huge animals. Several
were thrown up on the beach during
he struggle, torn and horribly MANNED. so that
they died in u very few minutes. The whole
surface of the ocean in the immediate vicinity
churned 10 foam by the lashing of the long
tails, while here aud there IA reddish tinGe IN the
water showed where the combat wnxed tierccst.
sooner was an alligator killed than the
harSs turned upon his carcass. tore IL TO pieces,
devOurcd IL voraciously. This done, the in
rreasing eolllition in another place indicated
hat the wsr was BEGINNING with renewed vlgor
to decide this local supremacy OF the sea. Only
4 few sharks were killed. although many must
have been badly torn by the huge Jaws ~
he alligators: One OF the alligators thrown on
The beach still had IA pieceo OF sharks fin clenched
In his teeth.
:" For half the day we watched the battle until
At last the level OF the lake went down. the vol
lme of water coming through the .crevasss de-
creased, and no more alliGatOrs were seen. Tho
'oam ON the surface of the ocean became less
md less, until at last only the occasional swirl
n sharks tail showed where some of the alli-
gators still struggled. or where tho huge fsh
'"re fighting among themselves over the disin-
carcasses. Finally. nothing disturbed
he CLASSY surface of the ocean AS IL rose and
ell but the clippings of some of the shore birds
- they swoOped down on the small pieces OF
floating here and there, which had been
reelected by the sharks in their hunt for and
with the big game"