328 BUFFALO LAND. 



as the nose of an alligator, behind which, and just at 

 the surface, as it got opposite, the ugly eyes would be- 

 come visible, looking out for hogs or dogs, as they 

 came to drink under the bank. 



I nev^er had the patience to wait for the finale of 

 the scene ; but had I done so, I should have beheld 

 the knot float closer in, and, just after passing the 

 victim, a tail would have come out of the water, and, 

 with a curving blow forward, knocked the prize out 

 from shore, and in front ofthe devourer's jaws. It was 

 my good fortune, frequently, to send a Ballard rifle-ball 

 into the pirate's eyes. In such cases there was usu- 

 ally a tremendous commotion in the water, accom- 

 panied by a strong smell of musk, and the wounded 

 reptile would then make straight for shore, and run 

 his head upon it. Under such circumstances, the 

 creature always sought at least that much of dry 

 land to die upon, seeming as anxious as man that 

 its lamp of life should not be extinguished under 

 water. 



This monster whose remains we were now ex- 

 huming was allied to the alligator, as one of the 

 great family of lizards, and had died in the same 

 manner — his head on the shores of the basin, his tail 

 in its depths. Perhaps in the convulsion of JSTature 

 which opened a path for the waters to the ocean, and 

 drained this inland sea, the fissure in which we stood 

 had gaped, and exhaled poisonous gases through the 

 whirlpool its suction created. The saurian monster 

 of that strange age felt the hungry vortex swallowing 

 him, which meanwhile enveloped him in deadly 

 secretions, killing before devouring. With a last 



