Natural History oj the Alligator. 275 



the shore. By looking for a little on this spot, you plainly see 

 the tails of the alligators moving to and fro, splashing, and now 

 and then, when missing a fish, throwing it up in the air. The 

 hunter, anxious to prove the value of his rifle, marks one of the 

 eyes of the largest alligator, and, as the hair-trigger is touched, 

 the alligator dies. Should the ball strike one inch astray from 

 the eye^ the animal flounces, rolls over and over, beating fu- 

 riously v/ith his tail all about him, frightening all his compa- 

 nions, who sink immediately, whilst the fishes, like blades of 

 burnished metal, leap in all directions out of the water, so terri- 

 fied are they at this uproar*. Another and another receives 

 the shot in the eyes, and expires ; yet those that do not feel the 

 fatal bullet, pay no attention to the death of their companions 

 till the hunter approaches very close, when they hide themselves 

 for a few moments, by sinking backward. 



So truly gentle are the alligators at this season, that I have 

 waded through such lakes in company of my friend Augustin 

 Bourgeat, Esq. to whom I owe much information, merely hold- 

 ing a stick in one hand to drive them off, had they attempted to 

 attack me. When first I saw this way of travelling through 

 the lakes, waist-deep, sometimes with hundreds of these animals 

 about me, I acknowledge to you that I felt great uneasiness, 

 and thought it fool-hardiness to do so ; but my friend, who is a 

 most experienced hunter in that country, removed my fears by 

 leading the way, and, after a few days, I thought nothing of it. 

 If you go towards the head of the alligator, there is no danger, 

 and you may safely strike it with a club, four feet long, until 

 you drive it away, merely watching the operations of the point 

 of the tail, that, at each blow you give, thrashes to the right and 

 left most furiously. 



The drivers of cattle from the Appelousas, and those of mules 

 from Mexico, on reaching a lagoon or creek, send several of 

 their party into the water, armed merely each with a club, for 

 the purpose of driving away the alligators from the cattle ; and 

 you may then see men, mules, and those monsters, all swimming 



• This so alarms the remaining alligators, that, regularly, in the course 

 of the following night, every one, large and small, removes to another hole, 

 going to it by water, and probably for a week not one will be seen there. 



