The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-01-03

promised by throwing both legs outside | the canoe and sitting there in a sort of 1 spreadeagle attitude with the rifle in one hand and the paddle in the other. l his eyes bulging out of his head with fright, while I, having dropped my knife and seized a heavy mahogany club beat the alligator over the head with all the strength at my command; but every blow seemed to act on him as a restor- ative and the more I clubbed him the ! livelfer he got,
 The situation was critical and the thought flashed through my mind that if he should hump his back like a'sun- fishing bronco instead of making inef- fectual snaps at the padder, l would be projected into the starlit Armament like bung starter at a Sunday picnic, with an even chance of landing in the 1 top of mangrove or in mid river among the sharks
 'Weely," l ordered in the most cona- manding voice I could muster under the circumstances, catch him by the tail, but the astute Weely from his fac re- treat in the bow mildly but firmly de- clined, alloeging as a reason that it was ''muy resgoso' and left me to fight it l out alone.
 1 l eased my feelings by few choice | and well selected Anglo-Saxo eXple- | tives and as 1 was doing so my hand touched the butt of the till then forgot ten pistol that hung on my hip. In an instant a quick, we'll aimed shot through the alligator's brain finished the trouble. The first shot had flat tened on his skull and only stunned him. El Negro handed me back the rifle as soon as he got his legs again in- ! side of the canoe and quietly resumed his padding with a rather reproachful didn't I tell you so' sort of air, while l Weely, face to the front, kept a sharp lookout ahead and maintained a grim, impressive silence, seating myself on the back of the now really dafunct alli- i gator.
 An alligator got within ten feet of the port beam before Weely saw and har- pooned it. As it dove with a heavy splash I received couple of buckets of cold salt water on my face and shoul- | I4SAo cbllN dpNll lllC GiNh VI lllJ ilSSAA putting a stop to the lecture for that night. In a few minutes we had him alongside the canoe with two bullets in his head, and after a nasty but thor ough post-mortem decided that he was dead and hauled him aboard.
 We padded on up the river toward Egret Slough and shined the eyes of a tiger on the bank, but he turned his head away from the light before could shoot and so saved homself.
 Weely harpooned two more alligators, and then I took my place in the bow with harpoon in band, while Weely took my place amidships, eyeing me as he did so with that jealously which the professional ever feels for the amateur I made several misses at first, and then right across the bows lay big one l Che measured 10 feet inches,) his eyes 1 glowing like red hot coals in the torch light. It was a regular pot shot, and sank the harpoon in his shoulders and away we went across the river the limo blistering my fingers as I tried to hold it and the canoe running at about twelve miles an hour. I called to Weely: Come and take your con- founded line I can't hold it: it's too hot. Weely took the line from my smarting fingers and in a few moments we were lowed into a tangle of sub- merged mangroves where the current had eaten away the bank. We bumped and seraped through the tangled mass, l Weely ignoring my advice to let the line go but giving vent to a stream of eloquence entirely unfit for publication as we flew through, but which ought to have secured him 8 berth as first mate on any whaler
 Fl Negro lost his hat in the passage and I had a badly bungled eye and scratched and bleeding hands, while 1 Weely at his post in the bow suffered rather rougher treatment than either of us, but at last we emerged into clear water again, our fiery untamed steed i going like 8 quarter horse. He ran us at last on a sand bar in mid river, where there was but few inches of water and there a six shooter ball crippled him and four more placed in his head in quick succession killed him. and with some difficulty, as he was very heavy, we got him on board, and then turned back in seach of Fl Negro's hat, which we found snagged among the mangroves
 The tide was now on the ebb and the | waning moon was just rising over the peaks of the Cordillera. Weely slowed away the harpoon and took paddle and we headed for camp, five miles away, the two paddlers keeping their stroke in perfect time,
 As we swept along from the bank on the right there was suddenly a heavy splash and then the sound of wings 1 beating on the water, together with loud quacks and croaks, and then all was silent again save for the sound of the rushing current and the howlof a l lone coyote far back among the sand hills. What was that?" I asked, Fl Negro laughed. Tt was the caiman catching a garza (blue crane, Senor" 7" | But how does he do it?" Why the garza fishes at night and wades far out from shore in the shallow places and i if the caiman can catch him mapping he sneaks up quietly and knocks him down with blow of his tail and then swims away with him and eats him and that is what happened just now.' Tt is a pity he continued, flor the garza morena is buena gentle I have i seen them in the rookeries feed the | young white egrets after the plume hunters had killed the old birds and left the unfledged young to starve in their nests. The garzas morenas would l first feed their own young and then go