AN ALIGATOR DEVOURS A GIRL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 118, 6 September 1876, Page 2

AN ALIGATOR DEVOURS A GIRL.

There lived in Calcutta a lovely girl of seventeen, who was engaged to a man she was much attached to ; her father, however, did not approve of the match, and was anxious that she should marry another man who had proposed to hexsome time before. This second lover, backed up by the father, was most assiduous in Ids attentions, and ultimately hoped to win the girl, who on her part disliked him intensely, and declared she would only marry the man she was engaged to, and no one else. All of a sudden the girl disappeared, and though every search was made foilier, °no intelligence could be gained of her, nor was there any apparent reason for her mysterious absence. Suspicion fell on both her lovers, especially on the one whose suit she had rejected, for it was well known that he was highly incensed against her for her indifference towards him. They Avere both arrested and imprisoned, albeit they declared their innocence, and also their sorrow and astonishment at her disappearance. It was ascertained that she was last seen alive going to the " tank " witli her pitcher to draw water, and that she had never been seen since. On this, it was determined to have the tank dragged, which was accordingly done. The first time they found nothing; however, they tried again. On this occasion they felt something very heavy in the net; presently they saw the huge bead of an alligator, and soon after heard a tremendous splash which broke the net and allowed the animal to escape. They immediately commenced making another net of extra strength, and not likely to be broken by the alligator. When it was finished they dragged the tank, but, to their amazement, nothing of the alligator was seen. " Where can it be V they exclaimed, "surely we were not deceived, we all saw it; and yet, if it was in that tank, we must have caught it." Some one proposed that they should drag the tank from the opposite side. This they did, and their efforts were crowned with success, for they captured the alligator and brought him safe to land ; he was of monstrous size, and a most ferocious monster. Inside of him they found no end of gold and silver hankies and native ornaments ; some of them were recognised by the bereaved father as belonging to his poor daughter, for they were the same she wore on the evening she was last seen walking toward the tank. The grief of her friends on this terrible discovery can be better imagined than described. She must have put down her X>itcher into the water quite unconscious of danger, when she was seized by the monster, and in a moment dragged down. Not a soul knew of the existence of the alligator in that tank. It was the only one there, and had a habit of luding under the shelving of reck on one side of the tank. This accounts for its not being captured when the tank was dragged on so many occasions. How the monster got into that tank and where it came from are questions for naturalists alone to answer. I have heard, though I cannot vouch for the truth, that alligators have been known to travel great distance at night. Tliis animal must have walked straight through the populous city of Calcutta to the tank unobserved. —Calcutta paper.