SEIZED BY AN ALLIGATOR

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 958, 7 April 1888, Page 3

SEIZED BY AN ALLIGATOR

In her book on pioneering life in South Australia lira Dominic Daly tells the following story:—" Th" watcrsof Port Darwin were not free from the dreaded enemy always to be met with in the tropics. Aliisators were very numerous; in fact, the harbor was infested by them. One poor fellow was taken bv au alligator during my sojourn under tho following painful circumstances :—Disregarding the standing order against bathing, a yonng trooper named Davis, a great swimmer and a smart, active man, went for a swim early one morning. He had been some time in the water when he saw what he imagined to be a log floating qnietly down the harbor with the tide. It was a most common thing to see enormous trees and logs of wood come down the harbor with the ebb; and to watch the timber and debris return with the flood wa3 somewhat, of an occupatipn. There is a great similarity between a log and an alliaator when in the water—both float, just showing the merest outline above the water. Poor D;ivis sa iv to his ntter horror when he drew nearer that it was an alligator, but it was hopeless to escape, though he tried to do so, andimmediately made for the shore. At. this moment his danger was seen from the deck of the Gulnaro, and the men called ont to him to' go back.' It was, however, 100 late; for as Davis turned his face toward the shore the monster came swiftly behind him, and Btretching his cruel yawning jaws over him imprisoned the poor victim's head within their deadly clasp, and in a moment had disappeared carryingDavis with him. Boats were lowered and the water beaten and splashed with oars, but no sign of the poor fellow was to bo seen. Wo hardly expected to find his body, although a diligent search was begun at once; but. a few hours afterward it was discovered lying on the edge of a reef a little distance down the harbor. His | neck was broken; tho cruel teeth of the alligator had I seized hi 3 forehead, and on each temple was a deep [ punctured wound. No further injury was done the r body. Evidently the bruto was frightened bv tho | noise from tho boats, and had dropped his prey in shallow water, instead of carrying, as alligators j generally do, the victim into deep water to some lair of their own, whence it is never recovered."