Go To A
Southern Bayou, Which Is Rarely, If Ever, Visited
By Man, And Where Its Saurian Inhabitants Have
Never Been Annoyed By Him, - Place Your Body
In A Recumbent Position On The Margin Of The
Lagoon, And Wait Until Some Large Alligator Slowly
Rises To The Surface Of The Water.
He will eye
you for a moment with evident curiosity, and
will in some cases steadily approach you.
When
The monster reptile is within two or three
rods of your position, rise slowly upon your feet
to your full height, and the alligator of the
southern states - the A. Mississippiensis - will, in
nine cases out of ten, retire with precipitation.
There are but few wild animals that will
attack man willingly when face to face with him;
they quail before his erect form. In every case
of the animals of North America showing fight
to man, which has been investigated by me, the
beasts have had no opportunity to escape, or
have had their young to defend, or have been
wounded by the hunter.
It was nearly ten o'clock A. M. on Friday,
March 26th, when our merry party left Old
Town hammock. This day was to see the end
of the voyage of the paper canoe, for my tiny
craft was to arrive at the waters of the great
southern sea before midnight. The wife and
daughters of our host, like true women of the
forest, offered no forebodings at the departure of
the head of their household, but wished him, with
cheerful looks, a pleasant voyage to the Gulf.
The gulf port of Cedar Keys is but a few miles
from the mouth of the Suwanee River.
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