Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1874 — An Alligator Allegation. [ARTICLE]

An Alligator Allegation.

That alligators swallow’ their young I have ocular demonstration in a single case, and have the universal tradition of negroes and whites in this region of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas that such is their habit. In the winter of 1843 4 I was-ongaged making a survey on the banks of the Ilomochitto Lake. The day was warm and sunny,’ and, as I halted near the margin of a pond partly dried up to pick some shells, I started a litter of young alligators that scampered oft, yelping like puppies, and retreating some tw'enty yards to the bank of Lake Homochitto. I saw them reach their refuge in the mouth of a five-foot alligator. She evidently held open her mouth to receive them, as, in single file, they passed in beyond my observation. The dam then turned slowly round, and slid down beneath the water, passing into a large opening in the bank beneath the -root-o L-an ash tree. Doubtless this refuge is temporary, and the young are released at their own or the mother’s pleasure.—Popular Science M i<thly for August. . , : , ... ", L There is a new hat for rainy days—a simple frame with a handkerchief stretched over it.