Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-04-12
HUNT GATORS AT NIGHT
down In JAMAICA
Live Dogs Used for Luring
SauFiaDS
CFrom the Detroit Free Press.)


leaving only faint red flicker among
the Goals. A cat that had been doz
ing in the warmth uncurled itself and
withdrew farther into the darkness.
Its eyes glowed green and phosphoI-
escent.
Well, now" remarked the man from
the tropics, smiling whimsically, do
you know what that reminds me Of?
never see a cats eyes in the dark
without thinking Of alligators."
''Why?" he was asked A homely
old tabby in a New York parlor does
not bear much resemblance to an alli-
gator"
You wouldn't put it that way if
you had ever been in a West Indian
swamp at night, with scores of alli-
gators round you. Their eyes shine
exactly like a cats. Just call up the
picture to your mind-twenty or more
pairs of round green globes staring at
you out of the darkness and all adver-
Using the proximity of jaws armed
with Pinch spikes for teeth. Ugh! !
can actually smell the musky alligator
odor when a cat looks at me like
that"
1t promptly became inevitable that
stories should be told, and
the man from the tropics unburdened
his mind to this effect:
There are numerous ways of going
after this sort of game, but the hunt
ing party in search of real sport will
plan a night expedition. About I
miles from Kingston, Jamaica, there
is a swamp choked with mangroves.
reeds, and wild water hyacinths. A
sluggish river provides a means of
it, and it is probable that
more alligators are shot in this local
ity than anywhere else in the world.
The Dog Isn't Killed.
Il recall organization an expedition
for the benefit Of five Americans The
party numbered twelve in ali. Three
boats were secured, and two together
with two negro oarsmen. The weap-
ons We're 12-bore Winchesters. Eacn
sportsman was provided with a bulls
eye lantern.
AT the last moment one Of the ne
groes dragged a yellow mongrel cur
on board My young friend from New
York opened his eyes and started to
quiz me.
What is he, a setter?' he asked.
Bait I told him. and, as though
catching onto my meaning, the cur
yelped lamentably.
after a laborious row we reached
spot where the mangroyes hung
down over the water, forming a partly
covered lane between the banks and
their dropping boughs. There was
no sign of life except the hoarse BOOM
ing VI q DullIOS.
Suddenly the yellow cur in the
bottom of the boat began to whimper.
The New Yorker turned his lantern
upon it, and we saw that the dogs
hair was standing straight on end. It
shifted anXiously its limbs shook, and
presently it threw its nose into the
air and broke into a prolonged howl.
The negroes understood the signal
and all three boats were at once
brought to a stop. There was d
sWishing sound among the mangrove
roots, and a strong musky smell
reached our nostrils. The dog howIed
in a new access of terror.
When the eye became accustomed
to the gloom, the banks were seen to
be dotted with globes of phosphores-
cent fire. Set in pairs about three
inches apart, they wavared against the
impenetrable darkness behind. TIE
lure Of the dog had drawn the alli-
gators from their lairs,
Hides Worth Seven Dollars,
1T was difficult to miss, and nearly
every shot we fired was accurately
placed. The sport. however, was over
IN less than ten minutes The stricken
alligators thrashed furiously on the
banks, and the survivors plunged into
the river or scurried back to the
swamp. A second and third volley
was sent among them, and when the
concentrated light of the lanterns was
turned first on one bank and then on
the other it was found that seven
saurians had been killed That par
tIcular stretch of the river having
been exhausted, we rowed 2 miles
farther up and repeated the perform
ance.
The dog proved to be a never
falling lure. You see, there is no
meat that an alligator prefers to dog
meat, and there is no terror like the
terror dog entertains for his natural
enemy The two things work beauti-
fully together.
The dog perceives the presence Of
alligators long before a human being
could, and he in his turn draws them
to him as magnet draws steel. No
experienced snortsman starts ON snch