e hunted for a
living by native hunters. They are commonly sought at night, by
torch-light, for in this way they can be approached with the utmost
ease.

[Illustration: THE ALLIGATOR HUNTERS IN THEIR CAMP.]

A rifle-ball will readily penetrate an alligator's hide, although there
exists an unfounded belief to the contrary. The creatures will "stand a
deal of killing," however, and frequently roll off a bank and are lost
even after being shot through and through.

The alligator builds a nest of mud and grass, and lays a large number of
oblong white eggs, but the little ones when hatched often serve as lunch
for their unnatural papa, and this cannibalism, more than the rifle,
prevents their numbers from increasing. The alligator is not particular
as to diet. I once found the stomach of a ten-footer to be literally
filled with pine chips from some tree which had been felled near the
river's bank! They are fond of wallowing in marshes, and many a man out
snipe shooting has taken an involuntary bath by stumbling into their
wallows. In dry seasons alligators will traverse long distances overland
to reach water, and travelers have come suddenly upon alligators
crawling amid prairies or woods, in the most unexpected manner. The
alligator as a rule is very wary, but at times sleeps quite soundly. I
saw one struck twice with an oar before it woke.

[Illustration: The Haunt of the "Gator".]

There is a very prevalent impression that the alligator differs from the
crocodile in that one moves the upper jaw and the other the lower. Such,
however, is not the case. Both animals move the lower jaw, though the
raising of the head as the mouth opens sometimes gives the appearance
of moving the upper jaw only. But alligators and crocodiles differ in
the arrangement of the teeth, and the snout of the crocodile is more
sharply pointed.

The hides are salted to preserve them and are shipped to dealers in
Jacksonville, where those less than six feet long are worth a dollar,
while for those which exceed this length twenty-five cents extra is
allowed. A fair estimate of the number of alligators killed for sale in
Florida alone, and not counting those shot by tourists, would be ten
thousand annually. One hears very conflicting reports as to the length
of large alligators. A prominent dealer in Jacksonville said that out of
ten thousand hides handled by him none were over twelve feet long. I am
told that at the Centennial, side by side with