FEARFUL ATTACK OK A STEAMER BY ALLIGATORS

Dunstan Times, Issue 507, 5 January 1872, Page 5 (Supplement)

FEARFUL ATTACK OK A STEAMER BY ALLIGATORS

A Florida paper spins the following very tough yarn : ■ " The steamer, whilst going up the Oeklawaha liver, suddenly encountered :t. sea of alligators, floundering and splashing water in every direction. Tlie captain of the vessel says he never saw such a scene, and never wishes *,o do so again. Before the speed of the little vessel could be cheeked, she was in the midst of the monsters. To go back or to go ahead was impossible. The passengers endeavored to drive them away by shooting, and the hands on board heat them with handspikes. Yet they were determined to obstruct the passage of the boat. Tlip situation became more critical, and the crew and passengers more and more exhausted, and the destruction of the boat seemed inevitable. Already three of the crew had been destroyed and several others wounded. Several of the planks had been torn from the hull, and the vessel was with difficulty kept from sinking. Just at this period a source of relief came. A lingo serpent appeared making its way from the lakes the same, it is supposed, that was seen at Devil's Ei'oow last year. The alligators soon disappeared, following the sea devil, and such, lighting never was witnessed. A point below, where the river suddenly narrows, soon became blocked with dead alligators, and the river was red with blood.