"
There is a singular adventure with an alligator recorded by the captain
of a vessel on the coast of Guinea. It is as follows: "The ocean was
very smooth, and the heat very great. Campbell, who had been drinking
too much, was obstinately bent on going overboard to bathe, and although
we used every means in our power to persuade him to the contrary, he
dashed into the water, and had swam some distance from the vessel, when
we on board discovered an alligator making toward him, behind a rock
that stood some distance from the shore. His escape I now considered
impossible, and I applied to Johnson to know how we should act, who,
like myself, affirmed the impossibility of saving him, and instantly
seized upon a loaded musket, to shoot the poor fellow before he fell
into the jaws of the monster. I did not, however, consent to this, but
waited, with horror, the event; yet, willing to do all in my power, I
ordered the boat to be hoisted out, and we fired two shots at the
approaching alligator, but without effect, for they glided over his
scaly covering like hail-stones on a tiled house, and the progress of
the creature was by no means impeded. The report of the piece, and the
noise of the blacks from the sloop, soon made Campbell acquainted with
his danger; he saw the creature making toward him, and, with all the
strength and skill he was master of, he made for the shore.
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