174 THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA. 



We had gone but a few miles when the ladies, who occu- 

 pied seats in the pilot-house, shouted, " There's an alligator ! " 

 We looked in the direction indicated and there, sure enough, 

 was one of the gigantic saurians lazily swimming across the 

 river, some two hundred yards ahead of the boat. The 

 captain said they were wild and that he would not let us come 

 much closer, so I opened fire on him and in quick succession 

 landed three bullets in such close proximity to his eyes that 

 he at once sank out of sight. 



A few miles farther up we sighted another lying on a log 

 near the- shore about a hundred and fifty yards away. I 

 adjusted my sights to the distance as nearly as I could esti- 

 mate it, but distance on the water is very deceptive, and my 

 first ball fell a few feet short of him. I elevated a point and 

 the second went a few inches over. I then lowered half a 

 point, and the third went through him just behind the shoul- 

 der. Then there was a sport ! He gave us such a gymnastic 

 exhibition as only a wounded 'gator can give. He first tried 

 to stand on his head, then he tried to stand on his tail. Then 

 apparently tried to turn himself wrong side out. Finally, 

 recovering temporarily from the shock, he reached the water, 

 and was lost to our sight forever. 



It is a well-known fact that the only place to shoot a 

 'gator and make him lie perfectly still is in the head, but the 

 distance was so great and the speed of the boat so rapid that 

 I could not choose so small a target. If hit in the body he 

 will invariably find the bottom of the deepest water within 

 half a mile before he dies. 



If the explosive bullet be used, however, he may be 

 stopped suddenly if hit almost anywhere, and many sports- 

 men use this effective missile 'when hunting them. Captain 

 Schoonmaker gave us some amusing accounts of shots he had 

 witnessed from his boat, when the explosive balls were used. 



