"Didn't I read not long ago about the drowning of many fishers on the coast of West Australia?" said one of the youths.
AUSTRALIAN PEARLS (FULL SIZE).
"Quite probably," was the reply, "and you are liable to hear of such a calamity at any time. The West Australian fisheries are subject to terrific hurricanes. The signs of these hurricanes are well known, and every fishing-boat has ample time to reach a place of safety; but the fishers are too reckless to take any precautions, and every few months a lot of their boats are sent to the bottom or driven high and dry on the shore. The few that escape death on such occasions immediately get new boats, and start off on another expedition as if such a thing as a hurricane had never been heard of.
"Alligators abound in all the rivers of the northern part of Australia; they grow to a great size and are dangerous, and not a year passes that we do not hear of somebody being killed by them while taking a swim or attempting to cross a swollen stream. They are great nuisances at cattle and sheep stations located on the rivers where they abound, as they make a clean sweep of calves, dogs, sheep, and other small animals while drinking, and have been known to attack full-grown bullocks."
"Did you ever know an adult alligator to be treated as a pet?" said the man who had told the horse-collar story, addressing his query to Mr. Watson.
Mr. Watson shook his head, whereupon the story-teller said he had known such a case. The saurian was not only an individual but a public pet.
Frank and Fred were curious to learn about it. Their curiosity was gratified as follows:
"Years ago," said the man, "I was at the town of Cardwell, in North Queensland. It is on a pretty bay, which is full of fish and oysters, and was then the home of a monster alligator which was known as the 'Cardwell Pet.' Every morning something resembling a huge log was seen floating under the trees near the shore; it was not a log, but the back of the pet, and he was on the lookout for a stray dog coming down to the water.