78 THE YOUNG 
frogs were mostly on the margin of the 
swamp, and easy to capture, so that I 
soon had all the bag wouLd hold. 
When resting, before starting for home, 
my attention was attracted to the pond by 
a large black and pointed object moving 
irregularly about upon the surface of the 
water — forward, sidewise, backward, then 
disappearing, only to reapi:>ear at the lower 
end of the pond, and so it kept on rest- 
lessly moving about, I could stand it no 
longer ; so taking off my shoes and tying 
the bottoms of my pants over the tops of 
my stockings — for the horse leeches and 
boat flies had got to be mighty thick in the 
water the last few days — I started in search 
of this new vjonder. Taking advantage 
of the bushes that margined the pond, 
that my approach might not be observed, 
I got within a hundred yards of the mys- 
terious object; entering the water I began 
to move slowly and silently towards it, 
when it went under. Instantly I dashed 
to the spot from whence it had disap- 
peared, judging that so large an animal 
as this must be would leave a trail or 
track behind it from stirring up the 
muddy bottom ; in this I was correct, for 
extending from the place where I had last 
seen him, stretched a broad black and 
peaty track. Following this rapidly, I 
soon had the pleasure of knowing that I 
stood directly over the moving object, but 
I didn't dare grab it when under the water, 
not knowing either its size or nature. 
Presently it ceased moving, and on the 
surface appeared a small black and 
pointed object, with two small holes in it ; 
in an instant it disappeared under the sur- 
face, and began moving along the bottom 
very rapidly, stirring up great clouds of 
peat. It had scented me and was alarmed. 
I still followed it closely, till it paused 
once more, and moving to leeward of it I 
scrouged down close to the surface of the 
w^ater that it might not scent or see me. 
Again the small black speck appeared, 
gradually protruding upward from the 
surface, higher and higher, till it extended 
some six inches, and moving cautiously 
around, it reconnoitered the entire pond 
with its small, villianous-looking black 
eyes. For a few minutes we each remained 
motionless, and after a careful inspection 
SCIENTIST. 
I concluded that I was on the track of one 
of the most powerful, active, cunning, 
and wicked of all reptiles that inhabit 
fresh water, the Chehjdra serpentina, or 
"snapper." 
There was only one way to capture him, 
and that was to seize him when under 
water; a rather dangerous proceeding, 
for if he once closed his powerful jaws on 
me nothing would cause him to lose his 
hold (absurd as it may seem, it is never- 
theless true that the head of this turtle, 
after being cut off, will retain sufficient 
vitality to maintain a firm hold upon the 
object seized for several hours). Know- 
ing, by the young specimens of this va- 
riety of turtle that I had kept in aquaria, 
that when in motion their tails dragged 
behind them, and that if I could And 
exactly the position of this fellow's tail, 
and once get a good hold of it with both 
hands, I could pull him to the shore and 
thus secure him for my pond. Following in 
his wake once more, I cautiously felt for 
his tail with my foot, not liking to give 
him a chance at my arms or hands in case 
we came to close quarters. The water 
being thick, he could not see my foot, and 
I touched him so carefully and lightly 
that he paid no attention to me. His tail 
seemed to be enormous, and of a rough 
horny texture, extending a considerable 
distance out from his shell. Seizing him 
with both hands, I was dragging him to- 
wards the shore, as I did not dare lift him 
out of the water, not knowing his weight 
and fearing he might turn on me, when he 
fastened on an old root with his fore feet 
and held fast. I braced back, and was 
pulling with all my might, when he let go 
his hold, and, my feet slipping from under 
me, we both lay sprawling and splashing 
in the water. In an instant I regained 
my feet, still holding on to his tail, and 
gaining the shore, dragged him to a newly- 
plowed field, where I knew he could not 
get away from me. When I let go of him 
he rose up on his four feet and lunged at 
me, at the same time opening his mouth 
and snapping at me savagely with his 
sharp jaws. He was a very fine specimen, 
and weighed some twenty pounds. 
My next anxiety was to secure him so 
that I might take him home for the pond. 
