162 SUNSHINE AND SPORT IN 



of low and fearful grunts, placing his hand before 

 his mouth, apparently to render his imitation of the 

 alligator's trills yet more realistic. I was at once 

 reminded of the way in which our Portuguese 

 fishermen at Madeira used to whistle and sing for 

 the mursenas to come forth from their lairs in the 

 rocks, and the analogy struck another member of 

 the party, him of the sealskin slippers, who had 

 fished with me in that distant isle. The only 

 difference was that the mursenas used to come forth 

 in response to the invitation, while the alligators 

 did not. Yet Underhill was quite sure someone 

 was at home. The spade was accordingly got to 

 work, since the pole failed, and we presently had 

 the satisfaction of securing a magnificent alligator 

 of about three feet. It was for this monster that I 

 had brought a rifle that would, in other hands than 

 mine, bring down an elephant at five hundred yards. 



At a neighbouring health resort of the species, 

 where the stench was almost overpowering to the 

 untrained nose, Underhill secured two more, which 

 actually did, to their own undoing, respond to his 

 motherly cry. These ponderous reptiles, either of 

 which would have gone at the time in my breast- 

 pocket, accompanied me vi& the West Indies to 

 Devonshire, whence, after a month of incarceration 

 in a small box in the drawing-room, they were 

 eventually despatched to happier quarters in the 

 Reptile House at the Zoo. 



Such were the slender fruits of a hunt that 

 promised such episodes as were to have consoled 

 us for our banishment from the Pass. Alas ! we 

 returned to Useppa an even more disreputable- 

 looking band of tatterdemalions than we had set 





