The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-16

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There Is n tcience In hunting allaators, Just
as there is science In hunting anything else.
Tho most successful slayer OF them in Avoy
clles paris; 10 jean Baptists de Coco. called by
old aud young. white and black. Jean Batteos
for short. He makes enough from alligator
hides to support his wife and himself in COM
fort and keep n clever son at school In New
Orleans. Ho could make much more shooting
cranes. hamingO"s and the many brilliantly
plumaged birds that summer here. but he has
soul in him. and declines to Hlay these
things for woman's adornment. Indeed. he
and tho plumc- hunters are at outs He has
assisted in prosecuting more than one oi them
and expects them to Kill him some day 1io
starts his days work at II O'Clock IL the fore
noon Ho says that 1t is useless to hunt for
hligators until they have had their morning
feed. and have climbed out on log or on
sandhar for the noon nap. Ho takes with him
only "A Winchester carbine. model Of 1873. his
hunting knife and his rope with hook in the
end OF IL. He goes down to the bayou that runs
from his cabin to the lake. puts tho gun and
rope in the boat. trctcrs carefully in. sits on
the bnttom and then with a single sweep
~ the double -rndrl paddle. Ia ont In tho
centre ot the stream and headed toward
the hike. Another sweep or two will carry him
out OF sight rs silently and swiftly as II he were
a shadow man in shadow craft The pirogue
MAKES absolutely no noise in going through
the water. tho paddle dips III and rises without
u splash or tinkle aud There Is no wake
Watching jean BaDtiste or any other 'Cagian.
in a pirOgue will enable the watcher TO under
stand why the proEue Indians OF these south
ern forests and streams were such deadly foe
men. They were able to put l25 miles behind
them in Il day and they were as slentas death.
once on tho lake. Jean Balt iste will go slow
a. Ia oil Tn tf 4
fro over the surface. In half an hour ho will
seo probably the shouts OF twenty aliigators
projecting an inch above the water, but he will
pay no attention to any OF them. A kill could
DO made. OF course IL a Winchester bullet
were sent smashing straight into al eye. but
this is an exceedingly difficult shot at AL
times. is especially 50 when the brute IL swim
ming aud II Killed it would sink straight to
the bottom anyhow. An alligator will some
times turn belly upward and float when killed.
but only SO long as a little air 1t may have
taken into it, lungs will hold 1t IN. The body ia
certain to disappear in little while Jean Bap-
tlstc. when on an expedition Of murder is look
ing always for alligators which are summing
themselves For this purpose they prefer the
suul! saudbars that rise in the lake hero and
there generally Just far enough from the land
10 be out OF gunshut. This makes 1t necessary
to do the hunting IN p!rogues. Centuries ago
tho alligator found it necessary to initiate
dead and stranded log in order to secure its
food II developed the ability to simulate u
log and 1t Is keeping up the fares to-day. No
matter whether an alligator be locking for
food or sleep or diversion when it crawls upon
n sandbar it will Immediately and uncon-
scousy assume its decoy shape. 1t will lie
always in Just tho position a stranded log
would have been cast in by the little waves.
,pl lia wit md n =
would also have been the case with the log.
Jean Baptiste. gliding slowly a!ong. sees five
hundred yards down the lake the glistening
back OF a little bar and on its outer edge
long. black object. which might be log, but
which he knows IL not 1t is the first roosting
alligator Of the morning. and he pref ares TO
capture it. he first notices the direction and
strength Of the wind. IL is travelling from the
alligator to him. coming down the centre Of
the lake in slow. iitful puifs. not enough of it
to be called breeze. but still an air current
Jean Baptiste knows too much to attempt to
paddle his pirogue straight at the summing
saurian. He makes wide detour. swiftly but
stll silently. and hats. He 10 now 800 yards
beyond the saurlan. having described
half CIRCLE and the wind Is blowing gently
from him TO the bar The alligator
has no scent to speak u. but its vision is
acute and it's hearing Is phenomenal. Its
ears. in fact. are 20 good that Jean Baptlsta
will make no effort To paddle toward the bar.
being afraid that tho dipping Of tho blade will
be heard by the beast 1t is never possible to
tell whether an alligator on sandbar Ii asleep
or merely loahng. IL awake it will hear and
see ANYTHING that makes noise. The man i'll
the boat. having made every preparation.
quietly lies down on the bottom and waits.
staring straight upward at the brazen blue
hky Hp knows n hraAZ0 blow
his light craft toward the bar. and the fearful
heat and the glare do not trouble him at all.
He has calculated that IL tho wind holds
he will be sailed to within seventy-nve
yards Of the bar in n little less than an hour.
There Is no current in the lake and he is able
to make his estimates with sAdctnras. more
particularly as he has done THIS sort OF think n
thousand times before. 1t il rather a trying
wait for SPORTSMAN. lie canEOt sec anything
except sky from his place on his back in the
boat and he cannot hear anything except now
and then the gentle swish OF a little ripple
along the pirogues cedar side For all hs
knows when hs rises slowly and stlliy at tho
end Of his wait, he may have misca!cu and
drifted far past the little bar, or the alligator
may have grown suspicious OF the large log
coming toward IT III the water, Or he
may be within three feet 0f the bar. and
consequently within twenty f"et OF thr aiIga-
tor. when he rises. 1t Is always possible, too.
that the wind may fail altogether. When he
hits himself up to look about him he may not
have travelled thirty yards or. through u
cross breeze. may have been driven further
away. However. Jeun Baptiste has been
through all of these things before and 10 not
worried He lies in the bottom of the canoe
for urecseIy tifty-Ave minutes though he has
no watch. and then slowly his head comes up
to u level with the Kunwalr, His Winchester
rarbin" ~ IN his haud aud 1t is ready lOI Ir-
ton. S.OWIy, vCiy slowly. In, hcud with its
shock oil buck hair riars into Wow unt,i his
small black eye /, able to beer above the ca
noes side.
Jean Baptiste draws a long breath because
the alligator is lying sound asleep. broadside
on and not more than seventy yards distant
Its belly is pressed upon the sand its powerful
tail lies higher up the slope, and il curved to
make it look rs much as possible like a limb
running out from u log the long, massive jaws
ARE tightly shut; the left tureGOOt Is thrown