Pardon my gossipry, ah! kindest of Editors! while I ask if you believe in the lastingness of primary impressions? And furthermore, is a countenance pleasant or otherwise from the humor with which you regard it? Is a place forever associated with the rain or sun that falls upon it at your first acquaintance? In running over the brightest of my pleasant days at St. Augustine, and there are few links wanting in that brilliant chain, I am just now reminded of lounging one morning at the market, with mind and waistcoat thrown open to all sunny impressions, when I observed afar off a small colored gentleman, who was coming toward me with a directness of motion quite unusual to people of his class.
As the morning was a little breezy and he had but one simple garment, rudiment, so to speak, between him and the outer world, I attributed his precision and firmness of step to a sense of delicacy as commendable as it is rare in those parts, and immediately resolved that I would look with a kind regard upon that individual: I would parley with him, detain him with some idle thought, while, all unknown to him, I could seize that moment to pry into his dark and mysterious nature, and if he proved modest and upright, as no doubt he would, how would I astound him with a gratuitous half-bit! Or if he resented that, (it might be,) I would have him at nine-pins; I would send him of errands; make up objectless and boot-less employment, if necessary, and so contrive to benefit him unawares; to cherish and sustain his high moral tone, and at some future day, (it was not impossible,) raise him to the dignity of trowsers! I would do this without casting a single shadow upon his unsophisticated nature; I would not deepen his complexion with a single blush!
On coming nearer, I discovered that he was carrying suspended in one hand what appeared to be specimens of some rare and curious vegetable; strange roots, medicinal perhaps; bulbous, yet elongated, and beet-like at the lower extremity, but dark and rough like an artichoke; which, on close examination, proved to be young alligators. The little nigger had them by the tail, and they were moaning like kittens in the blindness of their first days. I afterward discovered that they were not in good voice, from the circumstance of being carried so long in that unnatural manner. But what was my surprise, my delight, that an animal so Egyptian in association, so hieroglyphical, so suggestive of dragons and monsters, could be so delicately small, so infantile, so perfectly harmless! There were three of them, each about six inches long, counting the tail; but how long they had been that long, or whether they had ever been shorter, it was impossible to say. One could not but ask, were they weaned, or were they just ‘out?’ but no one could divine. We may be tolerably certain, however, that their mother was not aware they were out, otherwise small Bob would doubtless have had no farther rolling of marbles in those parts; no riding of my little gray all over town ‘just to air him’ as he said; no running for Massalini, the triangle and the tambourine, for our evening dances. They were not very lively, being, as I have stated, almost gone with grief or pain, one could hardly tell which, not being acquainted with their manner of expression. Placed upon the ground, they were quite still and speechless; no throbbings of fright; no extraordinary circulation, as far as I could discover. It was at this time, however, that on looking closer, I observed a strange expression of countenance; a wild look in the eye; a kind of mute horror there expressed; wondering at which, the popular belief flashed upon me at once, and I gave small Bob a look which puzzled him exceedingly. ‘Can it be then,’ said I, chasing this thought about in a distracted manner, ‘can it be possible that their mother would not have defended them from small Bob?—but that, on the contrary, (it is a horrible thought,) she would—would have anticipated that nigger? Were they born with an instinctive dread of that mother? Did they look shudderingly from some pin-hole in their shells before venturing into a wet and miserable world, where their first and last thought must forever be to avoid, as death and destruction, those who should have brought them their first morsels; who should have warned them of the rattlesnake; who should have preserved them from the cat-fish? Alas! here was the bitterness of that knowledge of evil at the first breath of life!
But waiving all this: how readily you will anticipate, Mr. Editor, that I at once said to myself, I would possess those alligators. I did. They were put up at auction, and the whole lot came down to me at half-a-bit each, the smallest coin of the country, but a fortune to small Bob. Bob and I went home with a new sensation! Apples and marbles to Bob; to me, something to study, to fuss over, to care for. How refreshing, after the excitement of balls and late suppers, to retire, and still better to rise, upon alligators! How primitive, how scriptural, how pyramidal in suggestion! A large tub with sufficient water to cover them well, was placed in the yard, and tilted a little, so that they could crawl out into the sun; a choice of vegetables and meats thrown in for supper; and the whole family of blacks, by virtue of half-bits, were put in special charge of the contents. As additional security, the old dog was shown, and disliked them; cats were banished; the bear’s chain made stronger; and, not unimportant, my room looked out upon the tub. The next morning they were inspected and found to be a trifle better in condition; but I was mortified more than I care to express, that they had wholly refused the dainties we had given them. And this they continued to do, so that for more than a week thereafter, no one had seen them eating. If they had manifested any dislike to any thing we offered, it would have been something to build, to speculate upon; and with my after experience, I should have had my suspicions; but all our relishes, and different solutions, salt water and fresh, and half-and-half, were received with the same indifference. Notwithstanding this, they grew livelier every day, and as I thought, in better spirits. Held up by the tail, they would bark something like a puppy when he first begins to think himself a dog; a quick bark, with a brusque abruptness, and wondering intonation, as though equally surprised and delighted at being able to speak so well. From this circumstance, Mrs. ——, who roomed next door, and had a great variety of lizards, as pets, very early exhibited a decided repugnance to mine, which I found it impossible to remove. She thought they were vicious. I maintained the contrary; insisted that they were a species of enlarged lizard; and that to take any thing by the tail was always a severe trial of temper. ‘Not to inquire,’ said I, ‘as to the affinity in the words cauda and chordis, (the heart and tail of all things,) I beg to remind you, Madam, how irresistible is the wag of the dog’s tail when he is pleased; how graceful the curl of the cat’s; and how earnestly the calf, that model of innocence, laboreth to raise his what little he can; and as to being held by the tail, what are the facts? The dog is indignant, the cat is furious; in short, all animals resent it as an impertinence; and I submit, could an alligator do less?’ But Mrs. —— refused to like them. I was one day taking my half dozen puffs at a cigar, (quite enough in that climate if you would avoid the siesta,) looking down from the balcony with an air of abstraction upon that tub, and puzzling myself as to what could be the particular whim, the acceptable morsel to the palate, of a young alligator, when the thought of fiddlers, the frisking, tempting inimitable fiddlers, came to my mind so easily, that I was vexed so evident a thing could have been overlooked. At that moment Bob was stirring up the bear with a long pole. ‘Bob,’ said I, shouting across the yard, ‘Bob! fiddlers!’ ‘Eh?’ said Bob. ‘Fiddlers, Sir, fiddlers, you rogue; run and get a bucket, a whole bucket full.’ The fiddlers were soon brought, and a handful of them thrown into the tub, when to my utter astonishment the alligators sidled off to high-water mark, and wholly declined their acquaintance. But here was an excitement at all events. They were not indifferent. And now, were they disgusted, or did they affect that? It was difficult to say; but the next morning the fiddlers had disappeared! If fiddlers had not been abundant in that country they would now have been at a premium, for they continued to disappear as often as they were furnished; and as evidence that they did not escape from the tub, the ‘pets’ now grew sensibly, barked louder and with more firmness, and were in some degree playful. I do not mean that they had any of that silly affectation which we see in most young animals; such as the kittenish grasping at imaginary mice, or the dog’s shaking of a stick, with the idea that it is something very vicious; fallacies all, which seriously considered are so pitiable and lamentable; I could detect nothing of that credulous nature; but sometimes, on coming suddenly upon them, I would find them lying side by side, their fore-feet put forward, and their three noses laid together on the sunny side of the tub, with an air of confidence and trust that was very interesting to witness. Indeed, there was something kindlier in it than you would think of an alligator.
As to my object in keeping them, there were various rumors afloat about town, in the utterance of which, libellous as some of them were, Mrs. —— was perhaps the loudest and most malicious; she having hinted, among other scandalous conjectures, that the soup from alligator-tail being very palatable and delicate, a speculation was afoot contemplating the supply of the northern market with that article. About this time, also, some of her lizards were missing, and thought to have found their way to the tub; but all surmises were soon cut short by the first cold night of that winter, (one of them in February,) which chilled the water so that the ‘pets’ next morning were quite stiff, and apparently dead. By careful nursing, however, two of them were thoroughly revived, and made to articulate distinctly; but having no thought of a second cold night in the same winter, the waters closed over them again, a thin ice shut out the air, (they had not presence of mind, I suspect, to come to the surface,) and on the morning of the second day they were quite gone. And now, in closing this history, I do not want to be uncharitable, but I suspect Mrs. —— was privately rejoiced at their death; indeed, the whole community, otherwise very sensible and not devoid of sentiment, seemed to regret the circumstance much less than would have been expected.
It will be seen, Mr. Editor, from this account of the alligator, that I can say nothing as to what habits he may form in after-life; what evil he may learn, what original sins he may develope and mature; what temptations his power and bloody instincts may present to him; what evil resorts he may be driven to, in an ungrateful world, when he has become case-hardened and impenetrable to outward impressions; or, in short, what contempt he may acquire for the fiddlers and cabbage-leaves of his early days. And what he may do in those vast lagoons where he is undoubtedly master, or in the black depths of the St. Johns, where the water hides the blood he may shed, and the long moss screens him from the tiger; what orgies he may celebrate, what abominations he may practice, when there is none to call him to account; all this I can only conjecture; but I conjecture on the charitable side. In the upper waters of the St. Johns I have seen them in their death-throes; huge animals, at least fifteen feet long; seen them in scores at a time, some swimming about, some tumbling in clumsily, some sprawled on shore, apparently asleep, and some raising their black claws as if to call down vengeance upon us, gnashing their teeth, and lashing the water in their death-agony; but the howlings and smothered thunder that others tell of, came not to my ears; and the exhibition, so furious to others, was to me only the involuntary muscular action of pain and dissolution. Extravagant stories are told of their great strength and tenacity of life, and wonderful exploits are recounted by the great mass who have lived since Agamemnon. While staying over night, not in Egypt, but at the plantation of Doctor W——, a short time before his place was despoiled by the Indians, he related an encounter, which though not so remarkable, is undoubtedly true to the letter.
The doctor in his earlier days had been in some sharp battles against Napoleon, having been a staff-officer to one of the smaller kings of Europe; and although an exceedingly kind and benevolent man, his skirmishing faculties were still lively and unimpaired. In this fight, which came off at Indian River, he of course commanded the engagement, but as it proved, not with his usual success. The alligator, one of enormous size, was so far from the river when discovered, that the doctor had time to call in his gang of men, and make a general attack. Seizing an axe in one hand, and shouting ‘Charge!’ to his men, all who could get a footing mounted the back of the animal, with a view to stay proceedings till the doctor could despatch him; but to their surprise, the old fellow walked off with his burden with apparent ease. The doctor then waived off his men, and mounting himself, drove the bit of the axe through his hide, probably at the fore-shoulder; but from wrenching, or some other cause, it was found impossible to remove it. The doctor hinted that the heart clasped the bit by strong muscular exertion, with a view to his own private use; but this being speculative merely, I only mention the fact. As he was now nearing the water rapidly, a rope was slipped round the butt of the helm, a quick turn made around a stiff sapling on the bank of the river, and all hands made fast to the rope. At this moment, just as they were all braced, the alligator made his plunge into the water, and the sapling, I don’t remember how large, very large however, came up by the roots, and they all went to the bottom together! Some of the negroes, however, came back.
Another Doctor W——, who, unlike his venerated namesake, still lives to relate the marvels of a life unusually varied, has a remarkable store of incidents, encounters, and other matters, quite alligatorical. The doctor will forgive me, if I mistake, but I think he told me that the monsters in the neighborhood of his plantation had in several instances stolen his butcher-knives and chopping instruments; a fact which he made quite certain, by seeing them use the knives in a family way on the other side of the lagoon; and that on one occasion, he was quite astounded at seeing a large alligator making tracks for the water on three legs, with a pitch-fork and crow-bar in his jaws, and a hand-saw erect and glittering from his right arm! Upon these last, however, I do not pronounce.
And now to sum up my opinion of the animal. I believe that notwithstanding these astounding tales, he is rather peaceful and well-disposed, when properly trained, but hath very strangely fixed upon him an idea, not entirely original with him, that the world owes him a living; that he makes drafts that way to an advanced age; that he is non-committal, except upon such matters as he can commit to his private keeping; that his stomach in that respect has great capacity; that he is not over-nice in his diet; is plain and unassuming; is not puffed up, seeing that his hide will not much admit of it; and if he resemble himself to a log adrift, he considereth not what foolish creatures may alight upon his back, or swim within his jaws; he barks no invitation, nor does he flourish with his tail to excite their curiosity; and if they happen in his way when he has done yawning, it is their business, not his.
Lastly, what do I say to the prevalent notion that the waters of the St. Johns, which resemble brandy and water, half-and-half, are colored by the blood of his victims? Answer—it is not so. I have drank of those waters for weeks together (stopping occasionally) and even deepened the color, in a manner peculiar to those who travel in those parts, without feeling half as sanguinary as I do at this moment, from the bare thought of that foul and malicious slander.