A very effective contrivance for taking caymans or alligators was made use of by Waterton’s followers in British Guiana. The annexed illustration represents a modification of it. Two or more tough fire-hardened sticks are notched at the large end like the head of a tent peg, and barbed at the point like a straightened fish hook. The notched ends are bound fast with raw hide lashings to a stout rope, which has been served for about 6ft. or 7ft. with stout wire. When this contrivance is to be used, the barbed tines and rope are thickly wound round with the entrails of some animal, and then suspended just above the water by supporting the rope on an upright crutch, which is so adjusted as to give way on the bait being taken. When the whole mass has been pouched by the alligator, and the rope is hauled on, the tines open, catch across the gullet, and act as a hook. We have heard of alligators being destroyed by inclosing a canister of powder, with the wires of a galvanic battery attached to it, in the offal of any animal; this, when fitted with a line and float, was cast into the water, and, on a bite being perceived, the connection of the circuit was made, when the alligator was shattered by the force of the explosion which followed.
FISH SPRING.
Alligators, to baffle.
Alligators are incorrigible pests to the fisherman, waiting until the fish is securely hooked, and then carrying it off, line and all. The following plan is the best we know to baffle the greedy marauders. Strong flexible sticks, like small fishing rods, are to be cut, taking care to select such as have lateral branches some distance down. One of these is to be cut to about 2in. from the main stem, and a notch made in its end for a button on the line to catch in, as shown in the above illustration. This, when freed by the biting of the fish, allows the rod to spring smartly up, and swing the fish high enough to be beyond the reach of the prowling pirate.
Liggers and trimmers.
A variety of fish may be taken in ponds and lakes by the use of inflated bladders, of which several can be used at once. They are thus prepared. The bladder, after being well filled with air by blowing into it through a quill or bit of cane, must have its neck securely tied up with twine, and to this fastening a piece of stick the size of the little finger must be attached, so that it forms a sort of stem-like appendage to the bladder. The line, with the baited hook attached, is now to be knotted fast to the centre of the stem, and then wound on it just as thread is wound on a reel. The lower end of the stick or stem must now have a slit made in it. The line, when pulled into this, should have just a sufficient length to hang freely in the water. The bladder is now to be taken to the windward side of the pond or lake, and cast adrift. On the bait being seized by the fish, the line is jerked from the slit. The bladder, revolving on its own axis, allows the coil to unwind from the stem, and from its extreme buoyancy soon tires out the largest captive, whose position it serves to indicate to the fisherman, who gathers up his prizes at his leisure from his canoe or reed boat. Bundles of rushes, large corks, empty bottles, and a number of other things, can be used as substitutes for the bladders. Contrivances of this kind are commonly called “trimmers” or “liggers.” Large turnips are often used by poachers to mount lines on for the capture of pike in preserves, as, unless rather experienced hands, the keepers do not suspect the dangerously destructive character of these floating roots.
BARBEL LINE.