Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-02-08
THE cRooopILE ROSE INTO THE AIR.

the men making as little noise as possi-
BILE, the location of the animal now be-
ing indicated by n swirl of water not 70
feet away. Whatever it was, it was evil
dently feeding in the shallow water" said
the narrator to a correspondent of the
st. Louis Globe-Democrat. mot word
was said as the boat slowly drifted up;
the harpooner stood erect and ready,
when suddenly, Is feet from the boat. up
came the broad, corrugated back of a
huge crocodile, and the next moment
sharp pointed muzzle protruded from the
water, having in its jaws a ray, which it
tossed from side to side, endeavoring to
tear the wide body asunder.
ut was crocodile, there was no doubt
in our minds, and so busily engaged was
it that it did not see the boat until it had
covered five or six feet more. Then the
harpooner leaned back, and as the big
head turned he threw the iron.
"'Well struck! cried some one as tho
iron hit the animal, trembling as it kept
its place. Then the great tail came hiss
ing out of the water, struck the slender
mast. the man dropping into the bottom
Of the boat, and broke it off as cleverly as
though it had been done with knife.
look out for the line! Jump to wind
ard! Stern all hands! were the orders
that followed as in those few seconds the
crocodile had made desperate rush,
jerked the boat so rapidly to one side
that she almost tipped over and was now
away like race horse, headed for the
mainland, with an ominous wave in front
that threatened now and then to come
aboard and swamp the light craft. We
all lay now as far in the stern as we
could get to keep the bow out of the wa
ter while tho stecd raced on.
81 knew we would have to stop this be-
fore we reached shallow water, as the an
imal would make n rush over some shall
low and break the rope, so when we had
gope perhaps half mile l took the line,
passed it aft, and we all began to haul in
This only excited our racer to more fer
vent efforts, and he turned suddenly,
again almost tipping over the boat. We
gradually gained on him until finally the
boats bow was just over his slashing tail
that was beating the surface with power
full lateral blows and forcing him along.
We had rife in the boat, and my man
now took it and aiming at the neck, fred.
There was little doubt as to its effect,
as the crocodile stopped, plunged head
down, striking the bottom in the shallow
Wu'el auN, sccAiiuHiy biUuuinb On lla
head, swept the surface with its tail like
whale. We had the oars ready and
backed. but not before one had been
struck and broken and the boat nearly
filled.
IAN at once" continued the planter.
after short pause, "our game righted
and plunged ahead sovagely. then swan
in circle nnd finally keeled over, where
Nya rotcoA pl, - t,,;,, nh
hauled alongside. He was beauty--not
20 feet long, by any means. but at least
10; splendid specimen of seagoing
crocodile AS he was too large to tow In,
it was decided to haul him aboard To
accomplish this the sents were lifted out
and rope made fast to his tail, and he
was then slowly and carefully hauled in.
Finally, when the body was balanced
across the boat, he was swung around
and dropped in lengthw;se. The seats
were then put on top Of the body, and,
flushed with victory, we started for
camp, now in sight.
1T was rather difficult to use the oars.
as the animal was higher than the gun
vale, but we made fairly satisfactory
progress and were close enough to cam!
| TO shout the news when the unexpected
happened, An earthquake would mo-
have created greater CONSERVATION. TIL,
dead crocodile rose into the air as il i'm
PEELED from below, forming a great hooI
and lifting seats and oarsmen seyera
feet, then dropped back and began Sc
| ries of struggles that turned the table!
completely. Selling the forward seat il
its jaws, it ground and twisted the sof
| pine, while the powerful tail carried dcv
astation wherever it struck, and pres
emily the water poured in, sending us al
overheard. jumped just ahead of thu
flying tail that sounded like whiplasf
when it struck, the other men either fall
ing or rolling overheard.
Fortunately the water was not oyel