ADVENTURE WITH ALLIGATORS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 119, 19 May 1870, Page 7

ADVENTURE WITH ALLIGATORS.

BY A COLONEL IN THE FEDERAL ARMY.

One morning I saw what I supposed to be a flock of ducks fly over the plantation, and I asked Uncle Abner if they had such fowls about in that district. He said yes, plenty of them ; only not such ducks as we had upon the Atlantic board. They were small, and apt to have a sort of musky taste : but by proper cooking they could be made not only palatable, but really fine eating. My next question was, whether he thought we could find some if we went after them ; and to this his answer was equally satisfactory. He could take us to a place where we should be sure to find some.

After this we were not long in agreeing upon the sport for the day. We prepared our guns, took drink and provisions for dinner, and then set out. Our host took one of his " boys " along with us to help Fitzeben to paddle the boat. This " boy " was a big lump of a darkie, named Quimbo, about forty years of age, and blacker, if possible, than our own Fitz. He was a comical genius, full of fun, and withal a faithful fellow.

" "We'll have to pull a good distance before we find any game," said our host. " About two miles off there is an arm of the bayou which has upon one side a low, flat shore covered with tall reeds, and there are some tender roots there which the ducks hunt for food."

So the two darkies pulled away ; and in the course of three quarters of an hour we entered the bayou where we were to find the ducks. We entered upon the northern side, while the shore where we hoped to find our game, if we found them feeding, was to the southward ; so we pulled noiselessly across, intending to creep down upon the opposite shore as carefully as possible. We had reached the edge of the reeds, and were moving slowly along, when Quimbo saw a motion of the tall grass, about four rods a-head, which seemed to be made by something woi'king at the roots. We got our guns in readiness — all cocked and at the shoulder — and then moved cautiously along. " We'll have to take them on the wing," said Undo Abner; "so be ready."

We had come very nearly opposite to the spot where the motion of the reeds had been observed, when our host whispered for us to " stand by," and then he gave an alarm. In an instant a dozen ducks sprang into the air, while we could see that more were running off through the reeds We all fired together, and more than half of the birds dropped. The boat was pushed into the brake, and after some fifteen minutes spent in pushing and tugging over the mud, we succeeded in securing five of the ducks. They were fat and plump, and gave promise of a savoury pie.

Having gained the clear water once more, and loaded up again, we pulled on, as carefully as before, up the bayou. We were liable to start up more game at any moment, so we were prepared. Half way up the shore we got another shot, and this time succeeded in securing seven beauties. The rest of the distance upon that side was pulled without seeing any more game, and our host gave the two darkies orders to paddle on to the next opening.

The passage from this bayou to the next one was between large trees, which seemed to have their very roots in the water, which was in most places so deep that we could not see the bottom. We finally reached another broad opening in the bayou; and within five minutes afterwards we started up a flock of over fifty ducks. We were not quite prepared for them, but yet nine of' them were brought down and picked up, they having fallen in open water.

We had started to pull across this bayou when our attention was attracted by a strong commotion in the water not far distant.

"They're alligators fightin'," said Quimbo, who had watched the movement some moments. Some hungry varmint on 'em's fell foul of a smaller one."

" Guess there more'n one foul on 'em," suggested Uncle Abner. And so it would seem ; for the commotion in the water was wild and terrific. Two huge, -black, serrated tails lashed the surface into foam ; and occasionally a third wouM make his appearance with struggling movements. We stopped our boat, and sat watching the fierce battle. Suddenly the monsters disappeared, and came up a few moments afterwards at some distance from the place we had first seen them, and a little nearer to our boat than before. We could now see very plainly that two huge "alligators had attacked a third nearly as large as themselves.

"Do the miserable . creatures eat each other?" asked my friend Hobson, who was not thoroughly versed in the natural history of southern reptiles. " Sartin they does," answered G-arl. " They'll eat anything ; and their own young 'uns more'n anything else." " Eat their own young !"

" Yes," responded the o?d trapper. " And thar never wor a wiser law o' natur. Ef they didn't eat 'em the country would be overrun with 'em in a leetle while. Why, sometimes the alligator lays three or four hundred eggs at a brood. They generally hatch

every one on 'em ; an' ef the old 'uns didn't begin to eat 'em about as soon as they gain the water we'd have more on 'em about than we'd know what to do with."

"It's a curious fact," remarked Uncle Abner, " that the female alligator will use suchi curious means to protect her eggs and hatching young. No animal could be more wary than she is in depositing her eggs, or use more ingenuity in concealing them. And then at the proper time she comes to their assistance. At the end of thirty days she knows that they are beginning to hatch, and she goes up to the place where she laid her eggs in the sand, and digs them out with her paws. Some of the young ones run straight off for the water, and others climb up on their mother's back, and are taken to the water so. But the moment the water is reached all ties of family are at an end, and the male and female both commence at once to eat their offspring whenever they can get hold of them. The young ones seem to have a sort of instinctive knowledge of their danger, for they dive for the mud at once, where they crawl in and hide ; but not many of them escape. They have to come forth for food, and are very apt to become food themselves."

Some further remarks were made upon the habits of the abominable things, when our attention was wholly taken up by the fierceness of the battle which was raging. The attacked alligator seemed to have proved too strong for his assailants to conquer at once. They had been snapping their great jaws at each other, but now commenced a battle with their huge tails. The monsters leaped and thrashed until the water for some distance about them was one dense mass of foam. Suddenly, while the conflict was raging the most fiercely, the attacked alligator sank from sight, and on the next instant the other two followed him.

We sat still in our boat watching for the monster reptiles to come up again. I had just opened my lips to speak when an exclamation from Quimbo startled us all. We had time to see a break upon the surface of the water close under our gunwale, and on the next moment a huge alligator sprang up and leaped half, over the boat, resting his fore feet upon the opposite rail. He struggled an instant, and the boat went over just as the other two monsters broke water and appeared on the scene ! That was a moment of strange, wild terror. There we were — eight of vs — floundering in the water; our boat bottom upwards ; and three great, alligators right among us engaged in savage conflict! My first movement, as soon as I command my senses, was to try if my feet would touch bottom. But they would not. My next movement was to swim to the boat, which I reached in safety.

The cries of my companion were loud and fearful. Quimbo and Grarl were the most collected of the lot, and I have no doubt that some of us might have been killed had it not been for their efforts. Quimbo had on no clothing but a cotton shirt and a pair of old trousers of the same material, so he could swim very well. He managed to get one of the paddles, and with this he poked the dead ducks, which were floating all about us, out towards the alligators. Old G-arl bad by some peculiar movement of his own secured his rifle, and kept it dry, and having gained the boat he held on with one hand, holding his weapon clear of the water with the other, and thus watched the movements of the alligators. The monster reptiles ceased fighting as soon as they became aware of our presence ; and having backed off to a respectable distance, being probably somewhat frightened by the yells of our party, they lay and watched us for some moments. Finally one of them made a dive for Fitzeben, and just as the darkey gave a terrific yell the ball from the trapper's rifle put out the varmint's eye. At the sound- of the rifle all three of the alligators disappeared, and we at once turned our attention to our boat, which, after repeated efforts, we managed to get upright. But she was full of water. However, we had our hats and caps, and while Quimbo watched for the alligators we commenced to bail out the boat.

But the reader may be assured that the position was by no means a pleasant one. For some time we were obliged to bail without resting any of our weight upon the. edge of the boat, for the moment we did so under she went. Finally, however, we got enough out so that we could help to support ourselves by the gunwales, and then the work was easier.

But the manual labour was nothing. The idea of those horrible monsters — that at any moment we might be seized by the legs and drawn under for ever — was fearful. I could read the terror upon the faces of my companions, and I know they could read the same on mine. Every motion of the clinging fabric about my legs sent a thrill of horror to my heart ; and I expected every moment to feel the fatal grip, or to see some of my companions disappear. We had got the boat about Half bailed out, when a shout of alarm from Quimbo startled us from our work. We turned and saw two alligators coining towards us, while a third lay upon the surface of the water, dead ! The 'faithful slave had managed to

keep the ducks together, having collected them after we began to work on the boat ; and he now pocked half-a-dozen of them towards the alligators. The reptiles quickly seized them, and then as quickly made off. We saw the result of Quimbo's wit, and once more went to work on the boat.

I must acknowledge that I was growing weak ; and I could see the others were failing also. There was something in that continuous, overpowering dread of being seized from beneath the water by the deadly monsters that kept the heart strained, and made the head ache. As we worked we could fancy every ripple the premonition of a dreadful death, and the occasional groans and gasps that burst from various lips told how powerful was the fear.

By and bye another cry of alarm from Quimbo turned our attention to the alligators. They had come up again — two of them — and were approaching us. The negro asked us if the boat was almost bailed out. We told him yes ; and upon this he gave the rest of the ducks a push towards the rapacious monsters. They seized them with a half-frightened, shy movement — grasping one after the other, until they had got them all — and then disappeared, as though afraid that we should try to rob them of their prize.

In three minutes more our boat was bailed out sufficiently for us to climb into it, which we did as quickly as possible. When we were all in we sat a few minutes to gain breath and gaze down into the murky water where our guns were. It was evident we could do nothing towards recovering our weapons then; so we took a careful survey of the place, marking the bearings of various objects upon the shore ; and when this was done we started for home.

And a sorry company we were. Our clothes wet and dirty — for the alligators had stirred up the soft mud at the bottom — Dur game gone — our guns and pouches at the bottom of the bayou — all save Garl's — and our heaats all aching from the terrible suspense of agony under which we had been so long labouring.