Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1882 — Combat of Alligators and Sharks. [ARTICLE]

Combat of Alligators and Sharks.

FA Florida correspondent of the New York xStos gives a graphic account of a fight between alligators and sharks:' “Heavy eastern gales, combining with the action of the Gulf Stream, sometimes shut the inlet Shoals of black bass left the fresh-water streams and appeared at Jupiter. Solid acres of salt-water fishes piled themselves in,to the bight of toe inlet and fought for the sea-water that oozed through the sand at high tide. “The alligators of the Everglades got wind of what was going on. They came down the Allokehatchie and Lake Worth Creek in scores, and attacked the fish dammed in the bight The slaughter was astonishing. > The water turned to blood, and was carpeted with dead fish. The alligators were reinforced until their number was climated at five hundred. “They gorged themselves with fish, and dozed away for days on the hot sand beneath the scorching rays of the sun. beach was black with their mailed bodies. “One day a north wind arose. It gathered in strength day by day, until its fury was that of a gale. It began to back up the water in the inlet Rain fell, and the water increased in depth. The to the north-west A high neap-tide followed. As it began to fall a thread of fresh water found its way over the sandy barrier. Within twenty minutes the dam was burst and the pent-up waters were roaring and rushing to the sea. .“The army of alligators was caught in the flood and carried out-ide. A terrific fight ensued. The neap-tide had brought hundreds of enormous sharks to the coast They scented the fresh water and made for the inlet. • Frantic after their enforced fasting during the storm they attacked the alligators. “The noise of the combat was heard above the roar of the ocean. A son of Judge Paine, of Fort Capron, who was an eye-witness of the scene, tells me that he saw sharks and alligators rise on the crest of the waves and fight like dogs. “1> dead alligators had lost their heads and tails. The sharks, in some cases, were nearly bitten in two pieces. “Clouds* of buzzards, and even the Bahama vultures, were drawn to the beach by the offal. Mr. Paine fancies that the sharks were too active for the alligators, but others say that the percentage of bodies on the beach indicated that the weight of metal was in favor of the iron-clad reptiles. ’’