of a long tail lashed the water and
then disappeared, but the eddies on the surface showed that there was a
violent agitation going on underneath it.

"What do you think of your log now?" Mr Harvey asked, smiling.

"Why, it was an alligator," Tom said. "Who would have thought it?--it
looked just like a bit of an old tree."

"What you saw," Mr Harvey said, "was a portion of the head; the
alligator often lies with just his eyes and nostrils out of water."

"Did you kill it, sir, do you think?" Dick asked.

"Oh! no," Mr Harvey replied; "the ball would glance off his head, as it
would from the side of an ironclad ship. It woke him up, and flustrated
him a bit; but he is none the worse for it. So you see, Tom, that pool
is hardly fit to bathe in."

"No, indeed, sir," Tom answered, turning a little pale at the thought of
the danger which he had proposed to incur. "I would rather fight half a
dozen lions than get into the water with those brutes."

"I don't know about half a dozen lions," Mr Harvey said; "although
certainly one lion is an easier foe to tackle than an alligator. But
one can never be too careful about bathing in this country. In the
smallest pools, only a few yards long and a few feet wide, an alligator
may be lurking, especially if the weather is dry and the pools far
apart. Even when only drawing water at such places it is well to be
careful, and it is always the best plan to poke the bottom for a short
distance round with a pole before dipping in a bucket. Remember, if you
should ever happen to be seized by one of these animals, there is but
one chance, and that is to turn at once and stick your thumbs into his
eyes. It requires nerve when a brute has got you by the leg, but it is
your only chance, and the natives, when seized by alligators, often
escape by blinding their foes. The pain and sudden loss of sight always
induces them to loose their hold."

"I hope I shall never have to try," Tom said, shivering.

"It is safer not, certainly," Mr Harvey agreed; "but there, I see
dinner is ready, and Jumbo has got a bucket of water, so you can douse
your heads and wash your hands without fear of alligators."

At nightfall the cattle were all driven in. The horses and a few of the
most valuable oxen were placed in the laager formed by the waggons; the
rest were fastened outside to them, side by side, by their horns; at
each corner the natives had piled up a great heap of firewood. An hour
a