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Show r : INDIA AND ITS PEOPLES By Capt. L. R. Claud Robinson ALLIGATORS f.N CKYI.ON many ot the rivers abound In nlligaiors which come ashore lo bask in the sun, all with their beads turned toward the water except one of them who acts as a watchman and whose snout Is turned toward land. When he gives t lie signal of danger there Is a general stampede Into I ti- river. They are so numerous hat one hardly thinks them worlh powder and ball, and Iheii horny sides make It more trouble to kill them (hart they are worth. A friend of mine, when patrolling one of these rivers, bad' a very narrow escape. His companion, com-panion, who was walking on the opposite oppo-site hank, took a shot a I an alllguior right In from of him; and Instantly the ball crashed Into the branches of a tree under which my friend was walking. It had been deflected from the reptile's back. There Is a met bod of catching alligators alli-gators which affords some sport to those who are Indi Herein lo the suffering suf-fering It emails. You lake u live puppy and strap III m on lo a raft formed of two pieces ol tough wood lashed In the form of a cross. You sharpen all the four points of this cross aiy'-sjs''' fasten to It u hank of twine a yaru long to which you altach a rope. Yon then float yoni puppy, who In of course yelping loudly, on a still pool or backwater back-water of the si renin, and tie the end of the rope to a tree. You then see thai your revolver Is Handy, and with a half a dozen or more natives you sit under the tree and .vntch. In a few minutes a pair of enormous Jaws appears above the surface of the water; the puppy disappears lnir them, but they do not close with is ) facility with which they open, for the cross has stuck In the brute's throat and the strands of the hank of twdne have got between his teeth. You now lay onto the rope with a will, and slowly draw the relucn.nl monster ashore, wdiile he lashes the water wlib his tull In Impotent rage. When you have got him on shore, you keep at a respectful distance and take pot shots with your revolver at his eye. If you keep on doing this long enough you will finally kill him. Those who have tried this "sport" say thai the life of the unfortunate puppy caD be saved more often than not. The alligators In some of the rivers of Ceylon are so voracious and numerous nu-merous thut the natives, who are very fond of bathing, stake off their bathing bath-ing places. From these strongholds you can safely taunt an alligator should he come and poke his nose between be-tween the bars and sniff your tempting tempt-ing flavor even jabbing at him with a knife. Near the mouths of the rivers, the natives think it is safe to bathe without the protection of any such device, as they believe the water is too salt for the alligators and too fresh for the sharks. |