"
[Illustration: THE ALLIGATOR.]
Mr. Audubon, the distinguished naturalist, has given some of the most
interesting facts in connection with the alligator that have come to my
knowledge. He says: "A friend having intimated a wish to have the heart
of one of these animals, to study its comparative anatomy, I one
afternoon went out about half a mile from the plantation, and seeing an
alligator that I thought I could put whole into a hogshead of spirits, I
shot it immediately on the skull-bone. It tumbled over from the log on
which it had been basking into the water, and, with the assistance of
two negroes, I had it out in a few minutes, apparently dead. A strong
rope was fastened round its neck, and in this condition, I had it
dragged home across logs, thrown over fences, and handled without the
least fear. Some young ladies there, anxious to see the inside of its
mouth, requested that the mouth should be propped open with a stick put
vertically; this was attempted, but at this instant the first stunning
effect of the wound was over, and the animal thrashed and snapped its
jaws furiously, although it did not advance a foot. I have frequently
been very much amused when fishing in a bayou, where alligators were
numerous, by throwing a blown bladder on the water toward the nearest
one. The alligator makes for it, flaps it toward its mouth, or attempts
seizing it at once, but all in vain.
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