148 



RECREATION. 



day by robbing nests and killing the 

 females, yet he considered it only "ornary 

 work ' ; The hunting outfit of this man 

 consisted of a light row boat, sixteen 

 feet long, and two feet wide, a pushing 

 pole, a pair of oars, a jack lamp, a large 

 strong hook attached to a long pole, an 

 axe, a hatchet, a pocket knife and a 

 hunting knife, a stock of provisions 

 and cooking utensils, a small tent, 

 fire-arms and ammunition, and some 

 knick-knacks for general purposes. 



The lamp used by all alligator hun- 

 ters I have met had a bull's eye 

 globe three inches in diameter, and was 

 fastened to the hat while the men were 

 at work. The paddle was five feet long 

 and had a broad blade so as to secure a 

 firm hold of the water. 



The implement employed for hauling 

 alligators out of the depths, and known 

 technically as the 'gator pole, was ten 

 feet long, made of yellow pine, and had 

 a stout hook, made of quarter- inch iron, 

 on one end. The hood had a shank 

 two feet long and was strong enough to 

 pull the heaviest reptiles into the boat. 



The tent was used as a dwelling 

 house, storeroom, or abattoir, as circum- 

 stances required. The pelts were 

 often put in it during the day, to keep 

 them from getting sun-cracked, if a tree 

 with heavy foliage was not convenient, 

 and the saurians were sometimes flayed 

 there. Under such conditions the air 

 inside the tent at night reminded one of 

 Cologne. 



The gun usually employed in the 

 work of destruction was a twelve or ten- 

 bore breechloader, charged with three 

 and a half drachms of powder and twelve 

 buckshot. This load will kill any 

 saurian if planted in the eyes or be- 

 tween the ear and the eyes, the latter 

 being the best position, as the shot 

 then readily enter the brain without any 

 hindrance from the thick skull bones. 



When two experienced men hunt to- 

 gether they can shoot all night without 

 speaking, everything being done by 

 signs. They rarely hunt during the da\ , 

 as they need its light for flaying and 

 curing the pelts secured, cleaning 

 their weapons, and scouting for good 

 hunting grounds. As soon as night ap- 

 pears they enter their boat, and while 

 one poles the other stands like a statue 

 in the bow, gun in hand and lamp tied 

 on ha* - , and slowly and carefully turns 



his head in every direction, scanning 

 the water for his prey. The gun bearer 

 is generally the best shot, but if both 

 are equally expert they exchange posi- 

 tions at intervals. 



On descrying an alligator the look- 

 out motions to the steersman which way 

 to move, and whether to go fast or slow, 

 or to stop suddenly. On coming within 

 a few feet of the animal the bowman 

 gives the signal to check headway, and 

 the steersman stops the craft by a sin- 

 gle stroke of his blade or push of the 

 pole. The hunter then takes deliberate 

 aim at the glowing orbs of the saurian, 

 which look like balls of fire on the dark 

 water, and plants his twelve buckshot in 

 them. The result is, as a rule, a dead 

 alligator, which sinks out of sight like a 

 shadow, and must be pulled from its 

 muddy retreat with the long pole and 

 hook, and deposited in the boat. 



The death of the reptile may not im- 

 mediately follow the discharge of the 

 gun, and in that case it thrashes and 

 churns the black water into foam be- 

 fore disappearing, or it may become so 

 furious as to charge the boat and its 

 occupants and try to rend them into 

 atoms. An infuriated saurian has been 

 known to tear pieces out of the bow or 

 the gunwale of a dinkey and attempt to 

 get into it, but expert hunters care little 

 for these hostile demonstrations, as they 

 can promptly repel boarders with the 

 axe or a second dose of buckshot de- 

 livered in the eyes. 



The best time for hunting alligators 

 is during the early part of dark nights, 

 that being their favorite feeding time in 

 lakes and rivers. An experienced hun- 

 ter can tell the size of a saurian by the 

 gleam of its eyes, because the larger 

 it is the more light they emit. The eye 

 of an adult is an inch or more in diame- 

 ter, and being an excellent reflector, 

 it throws lines of light all round it at 

 night, when illumined by the jack lamp. 



Alligators stare at a slow moving 

 light with the most fatuous curi- 

 osity, and permit it to come within a 

 few feet of them before attempting to 

 leave. The result is, that the greater 

 number of them killed by professional 

 hunters are shot within distances vary- 

 ing from 10 to 50 or more feet, as the 

 men do not want to miss the animals, for 

 fear they might escape and alarm all 

 their kindred in the neighborhood. 



