PONDEROUS REPTILES 201 



circular piece out of one side of his tail, 

 probably snipped out by a shark when he had 

 been swaggering round in his native river. 



One would have thought that his capture 

 would have been enough to subdue any 

 creature, for it must have been humiliating 

 and very painful. Like all the other alligators 

 there, Old Mose used to burrow into tihe banks 

 of the Indian River, making himself a com- 

 fortable and snug place of rest and refuge; 

 and there he slept and idled away his time 

 when not swimming in the water. But one 

 day, his size and strength having been noticed 

 by a man who made his living catching alli- 

 gators and selling them, a hunt was arranged 

 between ten or twelve travelers and prepara- 

 tions begun for the capture of Old Mose. 



In the first place, a large noose of very 

 strong rope was laid round the opening of his 

 burrow ; then the alligator catcher drove long 

 iron stakes deep down through the earth into 

 the end of the burrow. For some time there 

 was no movement, no sign that anything alive 

 was there at all and, after waiting until their 



