16 



tioii. Here, at the least, the maxim, that m hat every body says, must 

 be true, tails completely. In Brewster's Encyclopaedia it is said, that 

 " this animal's hide is generally impenetrable to a leaden musket ball. 

 It is, however, more vulnerable in the belly, and a bullet discharged 

 down the throat or in the eyes, is tlital. The negroes in the river Se- 

 negal attack this husre animal cither when asleep, or in shallows where 

 its swimming is impeded, and by forcing an oxhide in its mouth, the 

 water flows in, while heavy blows are given on the head to stun it, and 

 it is drowned." 



" In Louisiana, the natives contrive to thrust a piece of wood, pointed 

 at both ends, into the throat, or when rushing upon the assailants, its 

 wide mouth is met by a large stake, which is forcibly thrust down, and it 

 is speedily destroyed. Several leaden bullets, even when they pene- 

 trate, are sometimes insufficient to kill, unless when they reach the 

 brain, the spine, or some of the large blood vessels. Iron balls are 

 recommended." 



St. Hilaire maintains that lead will not kill ! So does the Encyclo- 

 paedia Americana, in which, it is said, that " the body, above and below 

 the entire length, is covered with plates" — " impenetrable to a musket 

 ball." Goldsmith's Natural History, (a text book in our schools), is, if 

 possible, still more extravagant in its details : " A negro goes into the 

 water armed Avith a knife, having his arm bound with a cow's hide ; the 

 animal swallows the arm most greedily ; a hole is cut in the throat; the 

 water rushes in and drowns it, bloating it as big as a tun." Examples, 

 of a similar kind, might be multiplied, were it necessary. So much for 

 theory, which here, as in many other cases, is stronger than the testi- 

 mony of the five senses ! 



Now I will engage to kill an Alligator, not merely with the " bare 

 bodkin" of which Hamlet speaks, but with a common lancet. The 

 animal is easily killed. Dr. Lindsay, formerly a resident in the 

 country, recently informed me, that some years since, while he and his 

 two companions were pursuing a wounded deer, ten miles from Baton 

 Rouge, in Louisiana, the party came on a den or aimy of Alligators, all 

 of which not only appeared indiflerent to their approach, but incapable 

 of being frightened. The gentlemen dismounted, secured their horses, 

 and divided their ammunition, which, though abundant in powder, was res- 

 tricted in lead to 450 buckshot. It was determined to use only three of 

 the latter for a charge. Each man had, therefore, fifty rounds. Each 

 standing quite near the animals, began the work of destruction ; each 

 shot proved fatal. The animals died quickly, in from two to five minutes. 

 They jerked, trembled, turned on one side, and held up one of their 

 quivering hands and died. When the last shot was fired, the survivers 

 lay quietly, unterrified, unconcerned. This spot was often visited after- 

 wards, but no Alligators were ever seen there for years. Dr. L. esti- 

 mates the iuiml)er of these animals which he has killed, at diflerent times, 

 at five hundred ! Mr. Audubon, the ornithologist, says — that a Louisiana 

 negro will kill a dozen of large Alligators in one evening, cutting off the 

 head with a single blow of the axe, for the purpose of obtaining the oil. 

 (Buflbn's Nat. Hist. Am. Edit.) On some occasions he holds a Ian- 

 guage somewhat dissimilar. He says, " When Alligators are about to 

 go into winter quarters, a child may mount them as a wooden rocking 



