Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-02
By Joseph G. Ably

i eaten supper at our hunting
club in the Trocaloa marsh
which skirts the northern shore of Lake
Borgne, and was seated on the porch lazily
putting my cigar, when John Cochran, my
guide on many duck shoot in the lagoons,
approached and asked if l had ever hunted
alligators at night. l replied in the negative;
but remarked that from all accounts the sport
was rather exciting.
well, that's what it is, exactly" he
drawled, land this is one of the best nights
for it that I've seen in a long time, because
it is so dark out there in the marsh and the
bayous that you couldn't hear a yell fifty
feet away. It'll be easy to shine their eyes
on night like this, and this wind will hold
the mosquitoes down so that they won't be
Fostering. Cap, | know you've got steady
nerves, that you keep your head cool, that
you can sit firm in pirogue and stand
gun kick without going over. What do you
say to US hav;n' hunt tonight! want to
see you Kill two or three of the big DULLES in
Bayou DIES Barbes."
The invitation appealed to my fondness
for adventure and was promptly accepted.
Good for you, Capt. he said, greatly
pleased. Get your full choke pump gun
and box of number five shells while l fix
the hat lamps and put pirogue in tow of
the motorboat; for we've got to go three
miles up the bayou. near to point where l
saw signs of feeding yesterday. There is a
bunch of lizards in the second fork, and
some of them are mighty big and rusty, you
can bet on that!
| expressed some doubt as to the wisdom
of trying to kill full grown alligator with
ammunition as small as number five shot,
and suggested the substitution of shells load
ed with "blue whisters'; for l had heard
and believed that the head of the reptile
hot h,,11n bod
penetrative effect than a pebble on armor
plate.
But Cochran merely laughed in a way to
indicate his sympathy for my ignorance. g If
you hold your gun straight, as | know you
can do, there'n be a crockerdile, as some
people call EN-, put out of business. You
never shoot till you re within twenty feet of
one, and that gun of yours will rip open the
skull of the biggest bull in the bayou
| was satisfied with this statement; for
Cochran had been born and raised in the
marsh, and was without an equal as hunter
and trapper. In few moments he had
placed all the equipment for the hunt in the
launch and we were off for the lair of the
game The sky was overcast with heavy
clouds, and the intense darkness, unrelieved
by even the faintest twinkle of a star, seemed
to settle down on us like pail.
A half-hour's run brought us near the
mouth of the second fork, where the engine
was stopped, the launch anchored, and the
pirogue, in tow, pulled alongside and the
guns and shells placed in it. The hat lamps,
small affairs of the bullseye type. were light
ed and, with the rejecting bulb to the front,
securely fastened to our SLOUGH hats by mean
of leather strap.
Then Cochran said, Take the front seat
of the pirogue and hold your head so that
the light will strike the water about thirty
feet forward of you, while l sit back and do
the padding. Have your gun ready, be
quiet, and keep a lookout for things in front"
must confess that felt rather nervous as
with noiseless dip and stroke of the paddle
he pushed the pirogue up the fork, which was
not more than twenty feet wide; but the
feeling lasted only moment or two, and
was soon absorbed in the task of scanning
the circle of water that glimmered under the
concentrated rays of the lamp. We had not