190 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 
actually baked the earth around his body as firmly as 
if he was imbedded in cement. It was a cruel and sin- 
gular exhibition to see so much power and destructive- 
ness so helpless. 
We amused ourselves in throwing various things 
into his great cavernous mouth, which he would grind 
up between his teeth. Seizing a large oak rail, we at- 
tempted to run it down his throat, but it was impossi- 
ble; for he held it for a moment as firmly as if it had 
been the bow of a ship, then with his jaws crushed and 
ground it to fine splinters. 
The old fellow, however, had his revenge; the dead 
alligators were found more destructive than the living 
ones, and the plantation for a season had to be aban- 
doned. 
In shooting the alligator, the bullet must hit just in 
front of the fore legs, where the skin is most vulnerable ; 
it seldom penetrates in other parts of the body. 
Certainty of aim, therefore, tells in alligator shoot- 
ing, as it does in every thing else connected with 
sporting. 
Generally, the alligator, when wounded, retreats. to 
some obscure place; but if wounded in a bayou, where 
the banks are steep, and not affording any hiding-places, 
he makes considerable amusement in his convolutions in 
the water, and in his efforts to avoid the pain of his 
smarting wounds. 
In shooting, the instant that you fire, the reptile 
