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covered that the impediment in question proceeded 

 from a large alligator which had wandered from 

 the morass, and, in the hope of finding his way to 

 the river, had swam up the mill-trench till he 

 found himself stopped by the grating ; and the 

 banks being too high for him to gain them by 

 leaping upwards, and the place of his confinement 

 too narrow to admit of his turning round to go 

 back again, his escape was impossible, and a ball, 

 lodged near his eye, soon put an end to him. I 

 went over to see him this morning ; but I was not 

 contented with merely seeing him, so I begged to 

 have a steak cut off for me, brought it home, and 

 ordered it to be broiled for dinner. One of the 

 negroes happened to see it in the kitchen ; the 

 news spread through the estate like wildfire ; and 

 I had immediately half a dozen different deput- 

 ations, all hoping that massa would not think of 

 eating the alligator, for it was poisonous. However, 

 I was obstinate, and found the taste of the flesh, 

 when broiled with pepper and salt, and assisted by 

 an onion sauce, by no means to be despised ; but 

 the consistence of the meat was disagreeable, being 

 as tough as a piece of eel-skin. Perhaps any body 

 who wishes to eat alligator steaks in perfection, 

 ought to keep them for two or three days before 

 dressing them ; or the animal's age might be in fault, 

 for the fellow was so old that he had scarcely a tocth 

 in his head ; I therefore contented myself with two 

 or three morsels ; but a person who was dining 



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