The Biology of the Crocodiha 9 



ing through the narrow pass of San Juans into the 

 little lake on their return down the river, and the 

 alligators were in such incredible numbers, and so 

 close together from shore to shore, that it would 

 have been easy to have walked across their heads, 

 had the animals been harmless." At the present 

 time it is usually necessary to travel far from the 

 usual routes of the Northern tourists to find alli- 

 gators in any abundance. 



At Palm Beach, Florida, lived, a few years ago, 

 and probably still lives, a well-known hunter and 

 guide, "Alligator Joe." Just what nationality he 

 may be is difficult to determine, but that he knows 

 that trackless waste, the Everglades, at least in 

 the region of Palm Beach, is evident. He has an 

 "alligator farm" near the great hotels of that 

 famous winter resort, at which he keeps, or did a 

 few years ago, a large number of alligators of all 

 sizes, as well as a number of crocodiles. For a 

 consideration (by no means a modest one) he 

 would take out a party of tourists for a day into 

 the Everglades, guaranteeing that he would find 

 an alligator for them to shoot. It was rumored 

 by the natives that an accomplice was always sent 

 ahead to free the alligator at the psychological 

 moment, after the hunters had been paddled by a 

 devious course to the selected spot, but whether 

 this were true or not the writer was not able to 

 determine. It is true, however, that he and the 

 writer paddled in a rather graceful canoe, dug out 



