SPORT IN JAMAICA.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XLIII, Issue 2288, 11 March 1912, Page 2

SPORT IN JAMAICA.

The log in the boarding-house fire flared up then died down, leaving only a faint red flicker among the coals. A cat that had been dozing in the warmth uncurled itself, and withdrew further into the darkness. Its eyes glowed green and phosphorescent.

" Well, now," remarked the man from the tropics, smiling whimsically, "do you know what that reminds me of ? I never see a cat's •yes in the dark without thinking of alligators." i "Why?" he was asked. "A homely old tabby in a New York parlour doesn't bear much resemblance to an alligator." " You wouldn't put it that way if you'd ever been in a West Indian swamp at night with scores of alligators aro-inl you. Their eyes shine exactly like a cat's. Just call up the picture to your mind—twenty or more pairs of round, green globes staring at sou out of the darkness, and all advertising the proximity of jaws armed with two-inch spikes for teeth. Ugh ! I can actually smell the musky alligator odour when a cat looks at me like that." It promptly became inevitable that alligator stories should be told, and the man from the tropics unburdened his mind to this effect : " There are numerous ways of going after this sort of game, but the hunting party in search of real sport will plan a night expedition. About seven miles from Kingston, Jamaica, there is a swamp choked with mangroves, reeds, and wild water hyacinths. A sluggish river provides a means of penetrating it, and it is probable that more alligators are shot in this locality th->n anywhere else in the world. " I recall organising an expedition for the benefit of five Americans. The party numbered twelve in all.. Three boats were secured, and two white men assigned to each boat, together with two negro oarsmen. The weapons were twelve-bore Winchesters. Bach sportsman was provided with a bull's-eye lantern. "At the last moment one of the negroes dragged a yelrow mongrel cur an board. My young friend from New York opened his eyes and started to quiz me. " ' What is he, a setter ?' He as'sed. " ' Bait,' I told him ; and as though catching on to my meaning the cur yelped lamentably. "After a labourious row we reached a spot where the mangroves hung down over the water, forming a partly covered lane between the banks and their drooping boughs. There was no sign of life except the hoarse booming of a bullfrog. "Suddenly the yellow cur in the bottom of the boat begnn to whimper. The New-Yorker turned his Inntern upon it, and we saw that the dog's hair was standing straight on end. It sniffed anxiously, its limbs shook, and presently it threw its nose into the air and broke into a prolonged howl. " The negroes understood the signal and all three boats were «t once bro'ight to a stop. There was a swishing sound among the mangrove roots, and a strong musky smell reached our nostrils. The dog howled in a new access of terror. " When our eyes became accustomed to the gloom the banks were seen to be dotted with globes of phosphorescent fire. Set in pairs about three inches apart, they wavered against the impenetrable darlluess behind. i The lure of the dog had drawn the alligators from their lairs. "It was difficult to miss, and nearly every shot we fired was accurately placed. The sport, however was over in less than ten minutes. The stricken alligators thrashed furiously on the banks, and the survivors plunged into the river or scurried back to the swamp. A second and third volley was sent among them, and when the concentrated light of the lanterns was turned first on one bank and then on the other, it was found that seven saurians had been billed. That particular stretch of the river having been exhausted we rowed two miles further up and repeated the performance. " The dog proved to be a neverfailing lure. You see, th.-re is no meat that the alligator prefers to dog meat, and there is no terror like the terror a do? entertains for his natural enemy. The two things work beautifully together. " The dog perceives the presence of alligators long before a human being could, and he in his turn draws them to him as a magnet draws steel. No experienced sportsman starts on such an expedition without the right kind of living bait, though he will not use a valuable dog for the purpose, as the animal occasionally breaks loose and jumps into the river in an insane attempt to escape. "In the early hours of tbe morning we returned to Kingston, and the following day sent the negroes back to skin the bodies. Each alligator hide is worth about seven dollars undressed, and the sport has therefore its profitable side. '—"New York Times."