FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 163 



out, the state of our clothing having been aggra- 

 vated by the fact that the launch stuck thrice on 

 the mud and we had to get out, waist-deep, and 

 shove her off. 



For him of the sealskin slippers, at any rate, the 

 experience was too much, for he saw alligators the 

 whole time. These infant creations of his heated 

 brain were by tacit consent given the benefit of the 

 doubt. True, someone on the return journey 

 unfeelingly recalled an anecdote. It was that of 

 the man, returning from a city dinner, who fancied 

 that he saw a monkey in his hall. 



" If," he said, shading his eyes with his left 

 hand, while his right grasped his heaviest stick, " if 

 that is a monkey, then it's in for a devil of a time. 

 If it is not a monkey, then, oh. Lord! Fm in for 

 a devil of a time!" The man in the sealskin 

 slippers, which had with difficulty been rescued 

 from the last morass, looked as if he considered the 

 narrative in bad taste. He said that seeing was 

 believing. Someone retorted that believing was 

 sometimes seeing. It depended on the mood. 

 Then the party relapsed into silence. It was quite 

 dark, and everyone was wet and cold and tingling 

 with the onslaught of plant and insect enemies. 

 We had, we found next morning, unanimously 

 resolved that our first hunt for alligators would also 

 be our last. We agreed that alligator-hunting was 

 the limit ! 



