. 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. And now the
moment arrived, in which a scene was exhibited beyond the power of my
pen to describe. On approaching within a very short distance of some
canes and shrubs that covered the bank, while closely pursued by the
alligator, a fierce and ferocious tiger sprang toward him, at the
instant the jaws of his first enemy were extended to devour him. At this
awful moment Campbell was preserved. The eager tiger, by overleaping,
fell into the gripe of the alligator. A horrible conflict then ensued.
The water was colored with the blood of the tiger, whose efforts to tear
the scaly covering of the alligator were unavailing, while the latter
had also the advantage of keeping his adversary under water, by which
the victory was presently obtained; for the tiger's death was now
effected. They both sank to the bottom, and we saw no more of the
alligator. Campbell was recovered, and instantly conveyed on board; he
did not speak while in the boat, though his danger had completely
sobered him. But the moment he leaped on the deck, he fell on his knees,
and returned thanks to the Providence who had so protected him; and,
what is most singular, from that moment to the time I am now