The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-03-09
BEAST, BIRD OR OEVlLi
'he Queer Thing Thing Georgia Hunter
Bays He Saw When Ito Had ~ Gun.


winch he encountered i'll a swamp near
the Savannah river. The story is as fol-
lows:
1T was about o'clock in tho morn
.ng, and was standing with my gun
behind some trees, about 100 yards
.rom tho outside. waiting 70 get q shot
Ii possible ut n passing deer Suddenly
heard noiso in toward tho river that
made my hair stand on end. 1t was not
such loud noise, nor did it sound very
dangerous, but it was peculiar. had
never heard anything like it before, and
hope may never hear it again. 1t
was sound somewhat likd tho quack-
sng OF duck and tho Kissing of snake
combined. That is as near rs l can de-
scribe 1t, and yet that does not give any
idca Of how it sounded. Itwas stronger
and louder than either, and yet that is
tho impression that it gavo me-either
that 1T must be g monster duck or hugo
snake, and then thought it must BIO
both.
Tho sound seemed to issue from a
thick place surrounding kind Of la
COON. l kept my eyes fastened on tho
spot with cooked gun III hand. l had
not long to wait. In n few seconds 1
heard kind of splashing in the water,
and peering through tho bushes l saw,
about 100 yards away, what seemed to
be the head of an enormous duck. But
! thought surely it was the king of all
ducks, for the bill was at least u foot
cong and as black rs could he. 1t was
still making that blood curdling, half
kissing, half quacliing noise and seemed
co DO wading or swimming slowly along
IN tho mud and water.
Before had timo to thipk-even if
MY brain had been in any condition for
such work-the creature raised itself up
little, and l saw tho blacklist, ugliest,
most loathsomo looking animal that
ever inhabited this earth, do firmly be-
levo Its body was between three and
-four feet long and was also black
When first caught q glimpse of it, I
thought must have been mistaken in
the head and that it was an alligator
coming out to sun himself, and yet 1
had never seen an alligator like that be-
fore.
Coming on up nearer to where I
crouchcd i'll terror behind tree l soon
had an opportunity to see tho thing in
oil Its strangcness and uglincss There
was little knoll where tho puddle of
water ended, nnd-horror of horrors
what l had thought was an alligator
nteppcd up on this littlo elevation and
then saw that it had only two feet. AS
near rs could judge its legs were about
foot and IA half long, and it stood
there like some hugo blackbird Of tho
night, with its bill stuck downward and
81
noiso.
ITO say that was paralyzcd with
fear would hardly give you an idea of
my condition. If tho creature had seen
mo and started i'll my direction, 1 am
suro would never have been alive whom
It reached me. 1t never occurred to mo
that my gun would have been any pro-
lection. was so completely terrified by
the appearance Of the unnatural looking
ching that l couldn't think of ANYTHING
else. believe would rather have bravcd
thousand alligators than that bird or
beast or whatever you might call it.
1T stood there, l suppose about q
minute. and had good opportunity
TO examine 1t with my eye. Its body
was rough and scaly, like an alliga-
tor S, and the tail went off to point.
1t had legs like turkey or duck, only
they were larger and stronger Its feet
1 could not SEQ on account of somo
bushes 1t kept turning its bill up and
down and around, but try us | could l
never did locate its eyes. They were the
features was right then most interest
cd i'll not seeing, and L suppose they
Wero so black that at that distance /
could not make them ont
L can never describe tho awful sound
tho thing made with its mouth. 1t made
NY blood run colder every time heard
at After short while, that seemed an
age tho creature gave kind of spring
from tho ground, and before | could
realize what it was doing it went up
into largo tree and sat on tho lowest
limb. Asst did SO / could hardly believe
my eyes when 1 saw two dark wings
spread out from its side and strike tho
air with heavy sound that made INV
heart sick. ! had not noticed before that
1t had wings, but wings they certainly
werc. although | could SEQ no feathers.
IS soon rs 1t had poised itself on tho
Nmb It's wings were drawn so closely to
Its body that /: was impossible to detect
where they were. l looked ut it for n
second or two, and then, rs its back
was toward mo, l thought it was q IA