THE BOOK OF THE TARPON 



for supper with a shotgun, but they must have 

 dodged at the flash or our aim was amazingly 

 bad, for we got none. I reminded Joe that our 

 last hunter-boy used to dive overboard when he 

 saw a turtle and come back with the reptile un- 

 der his arm, but Joe only asked me to show him 

 how the deed was done. Finally the captain took 

 the Camera-man out in the canoe, while Joe and 

 I were cutting grass from the shaft, and when 

 they returned two harpooned turtle accompanied 

 them. 



At almost every turn we saw an alligator float- 

 ing on the surface of the water and watched him 

 sink slowly until only his eyes could be seen for 

 the moment before they dropped out of sight. 

 We passed an otter slide just as its playful 

 owner coasted down the bank into the river, and 

 once a mother coon from the shore pointed us 

 out to her offspring and shook her wise old head 

 as she maligned us. Outlaws and Indians knew 

 the river too well, and among the feathered 

 dwellers in the water and forest about it not a 

 snowy heron could be seen. The last mother 

 bird had been sacrificed to fashion and the last 

 infant starved in its nest. 



168 



