160 SUNSHINE AND SPORT IN 



chevaux de frise of saw-grass, three-edged blades 

 of which wave in great tangles as high as the tallest 

 man's eyes, with prickly-pear to detain keepsakes 

 from the breeches, and stunted palmetto to trip the 

 feet. The shortest ramble on those islands, the 

 moment you leave the beach, is one continuous 

 battle with the vegetation, which is, in fact, far 

 more formidable than the animal life. 



Hush ! Underbill has struck a trail. With head 

 lowered, like a Cherokee brave tracking his enemy, 

 he pushes on, his eyes never off the ground, and 

 from time to time halts to consult with his con- 

 federate. At accelerated pace these backwoods- 

 men press on through that miserable maze of 

 vegetables mimicking barbed wire, and we un- 

 fortunates struggle torn and breathless in pursuit, 

 not liking to call a respite, not daring to be left 

 behind in the gathering gloom. If only Underbill 

 had offered me at that moment five shillings for my 

 rifle, which he had much admired, it would not now 

 be mine ! The final consultation lasted long enough 

 for the stragglers to come up with the vanguard, 

 and there, sure enough, was the spoor of evidently 

 a large alligator, with other indications of where its 

 tail and body had ploughed their lonely furrow over 

 half a mile of oozy haunts, leading unmistakably 

 to a large swamp, in the bank of which was a low 

 hole. This looked to our unpractised eyes scarcely 

 large enough to accommodate a well-fed eel, but 

 Underbill declared that it was the front door of the 

 'gator's family mansion. 



We had him safe, the experts agreed, unless 

 there was another way out. Alligators, it appears, 

 often leave a back way, like burglars, and the 



