d 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. The light bladder slides off; in a
few minutes many alligators are trying to seize this, and their
evolutions are quite interesting. They then put one in mind of a crowd
of boys running after a football. A black bottle is sometimes thrown in
also, tightly corked; but the alligator seizes this easily, and you hear
the glass give way under its teeth, as if ground in a coarse mill. They
are easily caught by negroes, who most expertly throw a rope over their
heads when swimming close to shore, and haul them out instantly."

A writer in the Liberia Herald, according to his account of the matter,
had a pretty good opportunity to observe some of the habits of the
alligator. "Coming down the river," he says, "a few days ago, we espied
an alligator lying with his body on the sloping margin of the river, his
lower jaw submerged in the water, while the upper was extended in the
air, showing a formidable array of teeth. We stopped to gaze at him.
Anon, a hapless fish ventured within the dread chasm, when the
treacherous jaws suddenly closed, and severed the fish asunder. The
native boys who were with us, took the occasion to assign the reason of
some of the alligator's movements. They say he lies with his mouth open,
to attract a certain insect which floats upon the surface of the water.
These collect in large numbers around his mouth; fishes feed upon them,
and when lured by the desired prey within the vortex, they become a prey
themselves."

There is a singular adventure with an alligator recorded by the captain
of a vessel on the coast of Guinea