8 PREFACE 



at this point and about ten feet in depth, with several 

 shallow streams coming into it above and below the place 

 where we swam. It is a tide-water stream and most of the 

 time quite salty. In these days the alligators in the streams 

 about the place were more than numerous, and of course, 

 boy-like we always took great pleasure and not a little excite- 

 ment in seeing how many 'gators we could call around us 

 during our swim. We would attract them by imitating the 

 barks and cries of dogs and by making loud popping noises 

 with our lips, as these sounds seemed to arouse the 'gators' 

 curiosity, and they would come swimming to us from all 

 directions. We had no fear of them and would swim 

 around the big fellows, dive under them and sometimes 

 treat them with great disrespect by bringing handfuls of 

 mud from the bottom and "chunking" it in their eyes. 

 Sometimes when the tide was low we would surround on 

 three sides a big one that might be lying on the edge of a 

 flat, and create such a commotion splashing and jumping 

 in the water that the alligator would crawl out on the mud- 

 flat, and we would follow him "chunking" great handfuls 

 of soft mud in his eyes and open mouth, and on several 

 occasions in this manner we actually overpowered them, 

 and after tying their jaws, dragged them to the house. 

 More often when we would drive an alligator out on a 

 mud-bank he would stand a certain amount of pelting with 

 mud and then break through the circle of his tormentors to 

 the water. Then it was, "boys get out of his way, he's go- 

 ing to the water." And you may be sure the boys 

 scrambled. On one of these occasions I was pretty well 

 mired past my knees in the soft mud and could not get out 

 of the way and the old 'gator who was blinded with mud 

 ran over me as I fell backward, and I still have the marks 

 of his claws on my stomach, where he scratched me as he 

 slid over my naked body. It was some time before I again 

 ventured to bombard an alligator on a mud-flat. 



Child-like, we had names for all the largest of the 'gators 



