New-York tribune., 1900-01-14
ALLIGATOR HUNT.
BY PReFEssoR cHARLBs F. sHoLpBR
AUTHOR OF ..rHE IVORY KrNe.p 'MARvEIs OF
ANIMAL LIFE.v ETC.


1T is not generally known that we have in this
<ountry a crocodile" said eocoanut planter of
4he Biscayne country. II lived in Florida near the
miami. for months before l knew 1t. / met the
Eeminoles from up the swamp every now and then,
and when 1 asked for game they always referred
10 what they called the sharp nosed gator which,
u supposed. the common alligator One day.
Eaowever. L Indian who had the
ekull OF of these sharp nosed gators for sale
j bought IT, and at once was struck with the diff
ference between It and that of the alligator. one
was pointed, with sharp teeth; the other fiat and
Hound nosed. with blunt, crushing teeth Here. ur-
'suspected-at least by the majority of white peo-
ple I discovered-was perfect crocodile as
could be found on the Nile, and / determined to
capture one. if possible
'Algators fairly common, and 1t was diff
cult distinguish them from the crocOdiles; but
learned that the crocodiles found near the
mouths of streams, in salt water, and that the
9Tigators were more at home up stream. About
1his time party OF friends from New-York came
down to my plantation, so we organized hunt'
Fnd for several days secured the little bays and
Enclosed areas of the coast. went up the rivers
and crawled into the swamps but never saw
large crocodile. We were. in fact hunting for a
gant described by the Indians twenty or twenty
one feet long, that had peeh seen and shot at
score of times. but one had ever hit it. 1t was
reported taking the rivers in winter, and be-
sng seen way up in the swamp. going down to
salt water in summer
THE CROCODILE AT LAST.
This monster was fully pictured in our imagina-
Sions. We could see his big head. his enormous
mouth, the corrugated back, in every submerged
hog or alligator. But days slipped by and he failed
no materialize One day 1 took the party out TO
the reef mile from shore. TO spear turtle or any
game that might along and the main subject
Of our conversation poor luck with croco-
Nes. While We're talking my man Suddenly
stopped rowing and pointed to the reef. AS
1urned in that direction long tail lifted
pf water, coming down with powerful splash,
and then long, allgator-like body became vsi-
ale and Immediately disappeared, causing small
awake to follow il moved away r.f s..,-....
. Crocodile. said the
What? Out here? Nonsense. man! exclaimed
spne of my companions
" You saw it, sir? said the man. turning to me.
mo shark could look like that 1t either
crocodile or an alligator, and never heard of an
ALLIGATOR coming to sea-
1T was easy question TO settle, and the boat
was turned in the direction of the animal the man
fn the bow taking ont the harpoon-a three-pronged
lR1fairand examining IT to IL the rope was at
snang as little noise as possible fb 'ne Iecafe5 men
OF the animal now, being indicated by a swirl Of
was evidently feeding in the shallow water Not q
harpooner stood erect and ready when ed9 al e
@ aJIteen Ieet from the boat, up came the broad
snoment sharp pointed muzzle protruded from the
from from side TO sde endeaVoring TO tear the wide
1T was a crocodile, there was no doubt In our
ot see the BOAT uSf un epgdgd m 5s6 it that @ it did
eet more Then the harpoo3r Iesped b.e or six
As the tI,9t pig head turned he threw the iron 1
fe 5e amin animal trembling it kept its place Then
the sIea5 tan came kissing out Of the water struck
tom Of the boaD and broke it of as cievery as if
:. Look out for the iinei jump to wind.ard,
sgern N Alb an hands f were the orders that followed
a, IN nose lew seconds the crocodile had made
desperate rush, jerked the boat so rapidly to one
racehofse ResdeG 9V for fe 9he mann0G maS n0TG
@ "ajh an ominous wave in front that threatened
AM GTHr1T ela1 riorf%
craft We ali laid low far IN the stern as we could
get to keep the bow out of water while the steed
7 knew we would have to stop this before we
"a rush over some shallow and break the rope; SO
ne passed it aft and We M ali began e to 1Uf 6aS fhe n
Ihis only excited our racer to more fervent efforts
bo was lust over his sasbn a ain than ul1 se Doar
the surface with powerful lateral blows and forcing
rim Inn along: We had a rife IN the boat, and my
There. was little doubt as to its effect as the
Fcrocodle stopped, plunged head down, striking the
potion IN the shallow water, and seemingly stand
3ng on its head. swept the surface with its tail
fBut not before one had been struck and broken
IAN at once continued the planter after short
f7ause, our game righted and plunged ahead saw
iagely then swan in circle and finally keeled over
whereupon we raised a shout of triumph and
aaqed @ ca alongside @ He was beaTty-not & twenty
splendid specimen or a seagong crocodile As he
thim aboard To accomplish. this the seats were
lifted out and rope made fast to his tail, and he
p when the body was balanced the. boat. b
f7Fas sung around and dropped in engthwfse. The
seats We're then put top of the body, and flushed
with victory, We started for camp in sight.
1T rather difficult to the oars as the
ienimal was higher than the gunWae. but we made
f3alry satisfactory progress, and close enough
10 camp 10 shout tie news, when the unexpected
fhappened-an earthquake would have created
the air as If inpelled from below, forming a great
fnoop and nftlnS seats and Oarsmen
tlen cropped pack and began series of struggles
that turned the tables completely Selling the for
ward seat in its jaws, it ground and twisted the
soft pine, while the powerful tail carried deyasta-
ton wherever II struck, and presently the water
poured IN, sending US all overheard. jumped just
ahead OF the flying tail that sounded like a yhip-
lash when It struck the other men either falling or
roilng overheard.
Fortunately the water was not over three feet
IN oepth, so we waded to a safe distance and
poweress to do anything awaited the end II soon
gained its upright position ed over sink
ing the boat, which rolled and dumped him into his
natural element, when with rush he was off. As
lllet poat moved away We flung ourselves
chng ng 10 the rail-, and for a short distance the
saurian towed us all But the boat fun of water
was TOO much for a long tow, and he soon uuieted
Gown and began to swim in circle. while we towed
the boat in shore. We finally ched near enough
: 70 get a rope, which fastened TO the boat and
70 q tree Then we held council of war
The crocodile was at the bottom, in a little pool
aout four feet deep. still lashing his tan and rising
az any attempt 10 drag him up, but the rome W. 3
secured and made fast to another rope. Then. at
re wore, the entire party walked away dragging
me ,hSntng. thoroughly enraged animal up the
beaen. where a rife bullet really gave him his
guletus- Some Of the party thought the animal had
been paralyzed at the first shot and suddenly came
70 but an old alligator hunter told me Ia ter that
.tle cfocodlIe had been playing possln."