bin tink say him got Buh Rabbit safe, an so eh keep on play eh fiddle
an sing: “Tenk God, rain done sen meat een me house. Tenk God, rain
done sen meat een me house.” Wile Buh Wolf duh mek ehself saterfy say
him hab Buh Rabbit an gwine eat um soon es de rain done ober, Buh
Rabbit duh grabble, grabble, grabble onder de bottom er de pole, tel eh
mek hole big nough, an den eh slip out, onbeknowinst teh Buh Wolf, an
hop roun teh de front do, an eh holler teh Buh Wolf: “You duh sing an
der play, ‘Tenk God, rain done sen meat een you house,’ but you yent
eat um yet, an you yent gwine eat um.” Wid dat eh leff right befo Buh
Wolf face. Buh Wolf rale disappint. Eh loss eh dinner. Eh gone an eh
heng up eh fiddle, an eh say teh ehself: “Me tought sho me bin hab um,
but Rabbit beat my time.”
LII.
BUH ALLIGATUH, BUH RABBIT, AN BUH WOLF.
Buh Rabbit, him bin er tief Buh Alligatuh agg. Buh Alligatuh ketch um
topper eh nes. Eh graff um an eh pit um een one crocus bag, an eh tie
up de een er de bag tight, an eh heng um on one tree lim, an eh gone
home fuh git eh lash fuh lick Buh Rabbit. Buh Rabbit dat skaid eh yeye
big moner saucer. Eh duh trimble een de bag, an duh peep trough de
crack een de crocus fuh notus wuh gwine happne.
Bimeby eh see Buh Wolf duh ramble dat way. Soon es Buh Wolf come anigh
um, Buh Rabbit biggin fuh sing say him gwine teh Hebben, way him will
hab nuttne fuh do cept joy ehself; way him will hab no corn fuh grine,
no tetter fuh dig, no cotton fuh pick, no rice fuh hoe, an no chillun
fuh mine. Buh Rabbit mek tense luk him so happy case de Lord dist er
commin fuh tek um right up eenter de element.
Buh Wolf stop. Eh listne teh Buh Rabbit. Eh yeddy close, an den eh say:
“Buh Rabbit, enty dat duh you woice?” Buh Rabbit, him mek answer: “Yes,
Budder, dis duh me.” Den Buh Wolf ax um wuh eh duh do een dat crocus
bag. Buh Rabbit tell um say him dist fix ehself dat er way so de Lord
kin fine um handy fuh tek um right up eenter Hebben; an den eh say:
“Good-bye, Buh Wolf, I leff all me trial behine; you no gwine see me no
mo; me gwine leff right off fuh Hebben.” Buh Wolf now, him yent hab no
better sense den fuh bleebe wuh Buh Rabbit duh talk; an eh bague Buh
Rabbit fuh leh him jine um an go long um. Buh Rabbit, him mek answer:
“Me Budder, me glad fuh bleege you, but de good Lord tell me say only
one at er time kin enter Hebben. Two an two cant go day.” Buh Wolf
bague. Eh bague. At lenk Buh Rabbit mek tense say eh gie way caze Buh
Wolf bague um so bad, an eh say: “Well, Budder, you seem so anxious me
gwine leh you tek me chance dis time, an me will haffer wait topper de
Lord tel narruh tun.”
Wid dat eh tell Buh Wolf fuh loose de bag offer de tree lim, an ontie
um. Arter Buh Wolf done do dis, Buh Rabbit git out, an Buh Wolf tek
eh place een de bag. Buh Rabbit tie up de mout er de bag berry tight,
an heng um gen on de tree lim. Buh Wolf, lucker fool, duh set eenside
duh spec fuh rise ter Hebben. Buh Rabbit now, eh so glad eh free, eh
hop off one side an hide ehself een one gall-berry ticket, way nobody
kin shum, an cock eh yez fuh notus wuh gwine happne. Eh know say big
trouble gwine come topper Buh Wolf.
Eh yent bin berry long wen yuh come Buh Alligatuh duh tote er keen
black lash. Eh gone right up ter de bag, an eh gen um er nasty cut.
Den eh haul back an eh gen de bag anurrer whaling ub er lick. Eh no
bin know say Buh Rabbit bin git out, an dat Buh Wolf bin eenside. Buh
Wolf couldnt mek out wuh bin gwine on. De lick hot um so bad eh holler
out: “Wudder dat? Who duh dat? Wuh hoona duh do long me? Lemme lone.”
Buh Alligatuh so bex eh yent yeddy say eh bin Buh Wolf woice, an eh
keep duh pile on de lick tell eh tare de crocus an cut de bag down. Buh
Wolf all lick up so eh casely kin walk. Wen eh scuffle outer de bag,
Buh Alligatuh fine out fuh de fus time say eh binner whale up Buh Wolf,
steader Buh Rabbit wuh bin tief eh agg. Den Buh Alligatuh ax Buh Wolf
pardon, an mek um tell um huccum Buh Rabbit bin fool um an git um fuh
tek eh place een de bag. Buh Alligatuh bex an sorry all two: eh bex
caze Buh Rabbit play dat trick an git way; eh sorry caze Buh Wolf beat
up so sewere. All dis time Buh Rabbit duh squat een de bush, way eh kin
see an yeddy ebry ting, duh half kill ehself wid laugh.
All de sorry wuh Buh Alligatuh bin sorry fuh Buh Wolf yent bin done
um no good. Eh bin bruise up so bad eh haffer tek eh bed fuh mona two
week, an all dat time Buh Wolf fambly mose dead long hongry.
Buh Alligatuh an Buh Wolf all two mek plan fuh ketch Buh Rabbit, but
dem nebber did obertek um. No matter wuh de trouble, Buh Rabbit always
hab sense nough fuh clear ehself. Eh yent hab dem long yez an big yeye
fuh nuttne.
LIII.
DE DYIN BULL-FROG.
One time er ole Bull-Frog bin berry sick an spectin fuh dead. All eh
fren een de pon collec roun um an eh fambly, fuh nuss um an tek dem
las look at um. Dat ole Frog bin hab er noung wife an heap er leely
chillun. Eh berry trouble een eh breas bout who gwine mine eh fambly
arter eh gone. Wen eh woice biggin fuh fail um, an dist befo eh dead,
eh say: “Me fren, who gwine tek me wife wen de breaf leff dis yer
body?” Eh fren all holler out at de top er dem woice: “Me me. Me me. Me
me.” Den eh quire: “Who er you gwine mine me leely chillun?” Fuh some
time eh yent yeddy no answer; an den de answer come back ter um one by
one from all ober de pon, an een er deep woice: “Yent der me. Yent der
me. Yent der me.”
Heap er people willin’ fuh notus er pooty noung widder, wen dem no want
bodder long narruh man chillun.
LIV.
BUH RABBIT, BUH PATTRIDGE, AN DE COW.
Buh Rabbit, him berry greedy, an him lub fuh tell lie. Him an Buh
Pattridge mek greement fuh kill Cow. Buh Pattridge ax Buh Rabbit: “Way
we gwine butcher um?” Buh Rabbit say: “Less we dribe um close up ter my
house befo we kill um.” Dem done dat, an arter dem kill an skin de Cow,
dem cut um up fuh share um. Den Buh Rabbit tell Buh Pattridge: “You
tek one er de fore-quarter, caze you know you leetle an cant tote much
one time, an me radder you tek de fore-quarter anyhow, caze eh nex de
heart, an eh mo sweeter den de res er de meat.” So Buh Pattridge tek
one er de fore-quarter an leff fuh him house.
Soon es Buh Pattridge gone duh tote eh meat home, Buh Rabbit tun een
an tote all de res er de Cow ter him house, an pit um een eh room, an
lock de do. Den eh stan outside duh watch fuh see wen Buh Pattridge
would er come back fuh mo meat, so dem all two could er meet same time
at de place way dem bin butcher de Cow. Buh Rabbit leh Buh Pattridge
git er leely way ahead er um es dem gwine back ter de spot way de Cow
bin kill, an wen eh come up eh say: “Hi! Buh Pattridge, way all de
meat gone?” Buh Pattridge, him mek answer: “Me dis bin gwine ax you wuh
you bin do wid all de meat.” Buh Rabbit say: “How you kin ax me sich er
question, wen me bin see er whole gang er Pattridge dis gone from yuh?
Me sho say you an you fambly bin come back fuh tek anarruh tun long de
meat.” Buh Pattridge mek answer say him an eh fambly nebber bin nigh de
Cow sence eh fus leff um. Den Buh Rabbit schway say: “Ef eh yender you,
somebody else muster tief de Cow meat wen we all two bin gone;” an so
eh fool Buh Pattridge, an mek um bleebe say strange people muster slip
up an cahr off de meat, wen all de time him binner de tief, an hab um
lock up safe een him house.
You nebber kin trus Buh Rabbit. Eh all fuh ehself; an ef you listne ter
him tale, eh gwine cheat you ebry time, an tell de bigges lie dout wink
eh yeye.
LV.
DE FIDDLER, BUH TIGER, AN BUH BEAR.
Long time ago dere bin er Ebo man wuh bin er great fiddler. Eh know
better den all dem tarruh people wuffer do long fiddle. Wen eh lean
back, an shet eh yeye, an draw eh bow fuh tru, nobody wuh yeddy kin
keep from shuffle eh foot. Ebry body roun de settlement blan gage um
fuh mek de music fuh dem fuh dance. One day eh bin gwine fuh keep eh
gagement fuh play at er party. Eh hab eh fiddle een er bag. Es eh bin
der walk tru er deep swamp, Buh Tiger an Buh Bear tek eh track an run
um. De man skaid wus den bad, but eh wunt drap eh fiddle. Eh clime one
tree an fix ehself een one crotch. Fus ting eh know, Buh Tiger biggin
fuh crawl up de tree fuh ketch um. De man holler and try fuh skaid de
beas, but eh wunt skaid. Eh keep on duh clime up. Den de man draw eh
fiddle an eh bow outer de bag, an biggin fuh play wid all eh strenk.
Buh Tiger bleege fuh stop teh listne ter um. Een er leely wile de chune
sweeten Buh Tiger so bad eh forgit ter foller de man, an eh tun roun an
come down de tree, an him an Buh Bear graff han, an all two set een
fuh dance. De faster de fiddler play, de faster dem dance. Dem gone
roun an roun, up an down, tel dem dead tired. At lenk dem all two so
outdone dem bleege fuh drap der groun an try fuh ketch dem win. Dem
cant dance er foot furder, an dem duh try fuh keep de time long dem
head.
Wen de Fiddler notus how complete dem outdone, eh slip down de tree,
an tek eh foot een eh han, an lean fuh de place way eh bin gwine. Buh
Tiger an Buh Bear yent hab strenk fuh foller um: an so eh music sabe um.
LVI.
DE OLE KING AN DE NOUNG KING.
Er ole King yeddy say dem gwine pit er noung King een him place. De
ting worry um an mek um bex. Eh want fuh keep eh trone: so eh gen order
teh eh head man fuh mek him soldier kill all de ole people een de
nation, so de noung King shant hab no wise pusson fuh help um cahr on
de bidness er de kingdom. De soldier tek dem gun an dem club, an dem
massacree all de ageable people een de lan.
Den de ole King sen wud teh de noung King, wuh de people bin pick out
fuh rule ober dem, dat eh mus fetch um er fat hog, but eh musnt be
eider er sow-hog, neider er bo-hog, but eh mus be er fat hog.
Wen de noung King git de message, eh tun dis answer: “Tell de ole King
say me hab er fat barruh een de pen, an him mus come fur um; but eh
musnt come een de day, ner eh musnt come fuh um een de night.” De ole
King, wen eh yeddy dis message, mek up eh mine say de noung King mus
hab heap er sense, er else some wise man muster help um; an eh couldnt
see how dat kin be, case all de ole an de wise people een de nation
done kill. Eh no bin know dat wen de order gie fuh stroy all de ole
people een de kingdom, de noung King hide eh farruh een one holler
tree, an so eh mek eh scape from de soldier, an bin day fuh gen eh son
sense.
De noung King tun sich er smart answer, wid de help er eh farruh, dat
de ole King couldnt mek out wuh time fuh gone fuh de fat hog; an so
eh gib up, an de noung King, befo long, come an tun um out an tek eh
office.
LVII.
BUH GOAT AN BUH WOLF.
Buh Goat berry faid tunder an lightnin an rain. One day big tunder
storm rise een de wes, an eh rain, an eh lightnin, an eh hail. Buh
Goat an eh wife bin er feed een de wood close by Buh Wolf house. Wen
de lightnin flash, an de tunder roll, an de rain po down, dem faid fuh
stay een de wood, an dem run teh Buh Wolf house, an dem bague um fuh
leh dem come een tel de storm done ober. Buh Wolf tell dem yes; an eh
tun Buh Goat an eh wife een de shedroom, an eh shet de do behine dem
an latch um. Buh Wolf shedroom yent bin hab bode flo. Eh mek topper
de neked dut. Arter Buh Wolf done shet up Buh Goat an eh wife, eh git
eh fiddle an eh biggin fuh play an sing: “Tenky goolly God, tunder
an lightnin done sen meat een me house. Tenky goolly God, tunder an
lightnin done sen meat een me house.” Buh Goat wife yeddy wuh Buh Wolf
bin er play an sing, an eh say teh eh husbun: “Enty you yeddy wuh
Buh Wolf duh play an duh sing: ‘Tenky goolly God, tunder an lightnin
done sen meat een me house’? Him gwine kill an eat we. Better leh we
grabble out an leff.” All dis time Buh Wolf wife bin er tell eh husbun:
“You better mine wuh you duh sing. You better keep you mout shet. Buh
Goat an eh wife gwine yeddy wuh you duh say.” Buh Wolf wouldnt listen
ter um. Eh wouldnt stop. Him say de rain duh fall so hebby Buh Goat an
him wife couldnt mek out wuh him duh sing. Wile dis bin er gwine on,
Buh Goat an eh wife busy duh grabble, grabble, grabble onder de sill er
de shedroom tel dem mek hole big nough fuh dem fuh crawl out, an den
dem slip out an gone.
Wen de rain stop, Buh Wolf heng up eh fiddle an gone git eh knife,
an pit eh pot on de fire, en sharpen eh knife on de pot rim. Den eh
onlatch de shedroom do an gone een fuh cut de troat er Buh Goat an eh
wife. De fus ting eh fine out, Buh Goat an eh wife done gone. Eh holler
back ter him wife an eh say: “Ole ooman! Buh Goat an eh wife git way.”
De ole ooman--wuh bin Buh Wolf wife--mek answer: “Enty me bin tell
you say Buh Goat an eh wife gwine yeddy? Duh you mek dat. Ef you bin
do es me bin tell you, an keep you big mout shet, you bin hab um all
two now.” Den Buh Wolf an eh wife biggin fuh quarrel an fight caze Buh
Wolf skaid Buh Goat an eh wife an lem git way. Buh Wolf wife lick eh
husbun tel eh holler, an eh tell um eh shant stay een de house bedout
eh fine um een meat. Buh Wolf bague berry hard, an eh prommus say ef eh
wife lem go him will hunt an fetch bittle right off. Den eh wife tun um
loose, an Buh Wolf gone fuh git meat.
Een de arternoon er de same day, wile Buh Wolf bin er hunt bittle,
eh meet up wid Buh Goat, an eh ax um: “Buh Goat, wuh sort er mean
trick dat wuh you bin do me dis mornin?” Buh Goat, him bex, an him
mek answer: “How you hab de face fuh talk long me an ax me sich er
question? Enty you bin fix fuh kill me an me wife dis mornin arter you
done gie we de freedom er you house? Enty we yeddy you sing an tenk de
Lord case tunder an lightnin sen meat een you house? You hab er bad
heart. You no duh frien.” Buh Wolf, him say: “You mek mistake. Me no
bin gwine hot you. Me dist bin er fun.” Buh Goat answer: “Yes, you yiz
bin mek up you mine fuh kill we. Haw Buck! me lub my life dist es much
es you lub yourn, an me no want hab nuttne mo fuh do long you.” Wen
Buh Wolf fine eh couldnt fool Buh Goat, eh change eh chune an eh say:
“Go long, Boy. You git way one time, but narruh chance gwine come; an
de nex time me git you een me power me yent gwine wait topper nuttne,
but me gwine pick you bone right off.” Buh Goat laugh at um, an eh
answer: “Now you done speak you mine, lemme tell you, you nebber gwine
git narruh chance fuh ketch me. Me boun fuh watch you.” An so dem part
company. Buh Goat nebber did trus Buh Wolf from dat day tel dis.
LVIII.
DENTISTRY AT THE OLD PLANTATION HOME.
The incident which we relate occurred some forty years ago at one
of those beautiful plantations in the swamp-region of Georgia,
where the magnolia grandiflora and the live-oak mingled their noble
shadows,--where the cultivation of rice and sea-island cotton engaged
the attention of the agriculturalist,--where generous hospitality and
a patriarchal civilization abode,--and where, at a remove from city,
all operations were conducted within the limits of the liberal domain,
and through the intervention of means and servants appurtenant to the
long-established and abundant home.
Prominent among the domestics on this plantation was Daddy Jack. A
favorite servant, intelligent, obedient, courteous, and with the
manners of the old school, he was now verging upon sixty. Among other
duties devolved upon him was the general supervision of the plantation
infirmary where the sick were carefully nursed and supplied with
medicine and suitable food. Acquiring considerable knowledge in the
treatment of ordinary diseases incident to climate and exposure,
he had become, in the estimation of his fellow-servants, a famous
leech; and was at all times prepared, with entire self-possession
and dignity, to indulge in blood-letting, to administer purgatives,
prescribe hot baths, and recommend tonics. A pint of blood to reduce
the pulse, then ten grains of calomel, followed in the morning by half
a teacup of castor-oil containing three or four drops of turpentine
to impart additional potency to the dose, and finally snake-root tea
to brace up the halting system, constituted the practice in vogue in
cases of ordinary fever. If this vigorous treatment failed of the
desired effect, a repetition was generally resolved upon; and so
the patient, sometimes enfeebled to such a degree that he no longer
afforded attractive food for disease, slowly recovered in spite of
this San Grado regimen. As a supplement to his professional labors
as a physician, Daddy Jack indulged, in a rude way, in the art of
dentistry. He understood how to cut around an aching tooth with the
same lancet which he employed in blood-letting from the arm. He knew
how to annihilate an exposed and throbbing nerve with a ten-penny nail
heated red-hot. With the use of an old-fashioned extractor, with which
to pry out an offending molar tooth, sometimes even at the expense
of a fractured jaw, he was familiar. In the absence of a suitable
instrument, a strong twine string, well waxed, sufficed to pull out an
incisor.
On one occasion a strolling Yankee dentist visited the neighborhood.
For the first time Jack beheld sundry appliances which modern ingenuity
had devised for the facile extraction of teeth. In his old methods he
at once lost confidence. Application was made to his master for the
immediate purchase of certain designated lancets, and for pairs of
forceps, both straight and curved. His wish was gratified, and the
plantation was notified that he now possessed instruments with which
teeth might be extracted readily and with the least amount of pain.
An era of increased practice and of enlarged professional emolument
quickly dawned. It really appeared as if there was scarcely a negro
upon the plantation who did not have at least one tooth which “hot
um,” and which “eh wan Buh Jack fuh pull out fuh um.” The old man’s
services were frequently called into requisition, and his reputation so
increased that numbers from adjacent plantations sought and obtained
relief at his hands.
One bright spring morning, a stalwart young carpenter, John by name,
who had been suffering from a decayed jaw-tooth of huge proportions,
presented himself with swollen face and most lugubrious countenance.
The customary fee of a quarter of a dollar was paid in advance, and
Daddy Jack made ready for the operation. Seating John in a wooden chair
in the yard, and with his face turned to the sun so that the old man
could “git er fair sight at de teet,” Jack proceeded with his lancet
to separate the tooth, as far as practicable, from the engorged and
circumjacent gum. John squirmed and indulged in heart-rending groans.
As the cutting proceeded and the blood trickled from the corners
of John’s mouth, Jack encouraged his demoralized patient with the
injunction: “Tan ter um luk er man, me son. Eh yen gwine hot you much.
Eh yen gwine tek long. Me mose done. Me soon git um out.”
This preliminary operation concluded, Jack produced his forceps. John,
already appalled at the suffering which he had endured, gazed upon
the instrument with eyes as big as saucers, and resolutely closed
his mouth. To Jack’s command that he open it, he responded: “De teet
yent duh hot me no mo. I gwine.” After much persuasion Jack prevailed
upon him to open his mouth and let him “tek de ting out.” At length
the old man firmly grasped the tooth with the forceps, and began to
haul away at it. As he pulled, John commenced to rise from his seat.
Jack endeavored, with the left hand, to keep him down, while he tugged
lustily at the tooth with his right. All to no purpose. John was
quickly upon his feet, and then upon tiptoe, so that Jack could no
longer operate to any advantage. It seemed as if for once the sable
dentist was to be baffled in his aim. Nothing daunted, however, and
muttering imprecations upon his unfortunate victim, he slowly backed
across the yard, drawing John after him,--who meanwhile was giving
utterance to the most miserable and unearthly sounds from his bloody
jaws, and attempting, with uplifted hands, to arrest the traction
of the resolute old man, who refused for an instant to relax his
hold,--until he reached a flight of steps which led up to the main room
of the smoke-house. Here he hoped to acquire the advantage which he
so much desired. Ascending backward three of the steps, and quickly
placing his right foot upon John’s shoulder, so as to keep him below
and thus obtain an additional purchase, with one supreme effort he
succeeded in compassing his purpose. The tooth came out so suddenly
that the old man, losing his balance, fell heavily against the door of
the smoke-house, while John tumbled in the opposite direction, yelling
with pain, and protesting that “Uncle Jack done broke eh jaw.”
Recovering himself in a trice, and holding aloft the forceps, which
still infolded in its remorseless fangs the gory molar, with an
indescribable air of commingled dignity, scorn, and triumph addressing
the discomfited victim of his professional skill, old Jack exclaimed:
“Haw, Boy! when I graff my han on er teet, eh bown fuh come, er de jaw
pop,--one er tarruh.”
In after years the old man often recurred with manifest pride and
satisfaction to this incident, and frequently cited this exploit in
confirmation of his boast “dat no nigger teet ebber yet did git de
better er me.”
LIX.
THE NEGRO AND THE ALLIGATOR.
Foremost among the reptiles which excited the curiosity and aroused
the fears of the Georgia colonists, upon their first acquaintance
with them, were the alligators. Francis Moore, keeper of the stores,
describing them in 1736, says: “They are terrible to look at,
stretching open an horrible large mouth big enough to swallow a Man,
with Rows of dreadful large sharp Teeth, and Feet like Draggons, armed
with great Claws, and a long Tail which they throw about with great
Strength, and which seems their best Weapon, for their Claws are feebly
set on, and the Stiffness of their Necks hinders them from turning
nimbly to bite.” In order to dissipate the general terror which these
strange saurians inspired, Mr. Oglethorpe, having wounded and caught
one of them, caused it to be carried to Savannah, where he “made the
boys bait it with sticks, and finally pelt and beat it to death.”
To the European, newly landed on these shores, the alligator was
indeed a novelty, repulsive and provocative of dread. Not so with the
negro. His ancestors were well acquainted with the African crocodile,
and their descendants, dwelling in this marsh region filled with
swamps and cypress ponds, and permeated with lagoons, creeks, and
rivers--the habitat of this formidable reptile--were from childhood
familiar with its roar, and entirely accustomed to its unsightly
appearance and habits. Among these sable myth-makers it figured as
an important _dramatis persona_. Of the dogs, geese, ducks, and hogs
of the plantation hands it was an avowed and a voracious enemy. When
skinned and thoroughly boiled, its tail was esteemed by many as a
savory article of food. For the cure of rheumatism its oil was held
in special repute, and the exuded musk was collected for medicinal
uses. Its skin, rudely tanned, entered largely into the composition
of home-made pouches and shoes. Whistles and powder-charges were
fabricated from the tusks, which also served a good turn for the
pickaninnies to rub their swollen gums against, and to cut their first
teeth upon. A constant depredator was the alligator upon the fish-traps
which guarded the mouths of the short creeks emptying into the rivers.
Upon the reflux of the tide, entering the inclosure, this reptile
gorged itself upon the fishes there detained, and incurred the wrath
of Cuffee, whose frying-pan was thus cheated out of its anticipated
evening broil. Hence it came to pass that the alligator was regarded by
the negro both as an enemy and as desirable game. During the spring and
summer they frequently met, and whenever the former could be taken at a
disadvantage its life was forfeit to the opportunity. It was killed in
rice-field ditches, in shallow ponds, and occasionally upon land. The
hoe, the axe, a fence rail, and the club were the offensive weapons;
and loud were the cries and great was the fun while the struggling
reptile was being beaten to death. In the back-waters and in swamps
where the alligators made their nests, reared their young, and dug
their holes, the negroes, during their leisure hours, were fond of
capturing them by means of a heavy iron hook fastened to the end of a
long, stout pole. This was thrust into the hole where the reptile lay.
While snapping at the hook, with its irritating prong, the alligator
was in the end securely caught with the barb, and then came the tug of
war. It was in no wise an easy operation to draw from its hiding-place
one of these reluctant, excited, and revolving monsters. For this
purpose the combined strength of several stalwart men barely sufficed.
The frolic was joyous, and the exultant shouts of those engaged in the
sport awakened strange echoes in the depths of the dank and moss-clad
swamps.
If we may credit the text of the “Brevis Narratio” of Le Moyne de
Morgues, the Florida Indians were addicted to similar sport, and Plate
XXVI may well be claimed in practical illustration of the amusement to
which we are now alluding.