318 Capture and Death of a large Alligator. 



mouth of the stream, burst through two of the nets ; and I threw 

 down my gun in despair, for it looked as though his way at last 

 was clear to the wide lake. But the third net stopped him, and 

 his teeth and legs had got entangled in all. This gave us a 

 chance of closer warfare with lances, such as are used against the 

 wild buffalo. We had sent for this weapon at the commencement 

 of the attack, and found it much more effectual than guns. En- 

 tering a canoe, we plunged lance after lance into the alligator, as he 

 was struggling under the water, till a wood seemed growing from 

 him, which moved violently above, while his body was concealed 

 below. His endeavors to extricate himself, lashed the water into 

 foam, mingled with blood ; and there seemed no end to his vi- 

 tality, or decrease to his resistance, till a lance struck him directly 

 through the middle of the back, which an Indian, with a heavy 

 piece of wood hammered into him, as he could catch an opportu- 

 nity. My companion, on the other side, now tried to haul him 

 to the shore, by the nets to which he had fastened himself, but 

 had not sufficient assistance with him. As I had more force with 

 me, we managed, with the aid of the women and children, to 

 drag his head and part of his body on to the little beach, where 

 the river joined the lake, and giving him the " coup de grace," 

 ieft him to gasp out the remnant of his life on the sand. 



I regret to say, that the measurement of the length of this ani- 

 mal was imperfect. It was night when the struggle ended, and 

 our examination of him was made by torch-light. I measured 

 the circumference, as did also my companion, and it was over 

 eleven feet immediately behind the fore legs. It was thirteen 

 feet at the belly, which was distended by the immoderate meal 

 made on the horse. As he was only partly out of the water, I 

 stood with a line at his head, giving the other end to an Indian, 

 with directions to take it to the extremity of the tail. The 

 length so measiu-ed, was twenty-two feet ; but at the time I 

 doubted the good faith of my assistant, from the reluctance he 

 manifested to enter the water, and the fears he expressed that the 

 mate of the alligator might be in the vicinity. From the diame- 

 ter of the animal, and the representations of those who examined 

 him afterwards, we believed the length to have been about thirty 

 feet. As we intended to preserve the entire skeleton, with the 

 skin, we were less particular than we otherwise should have been. 

 On opening him, we found, with other parts of the horse, three 



