Journal from the Logan
Mrs. Alonzo Follansbee, 1837-9

We're reaching a bit here, but we couldn't resist a sewergator reference of such ancient lineage. This 19th Century account appears on pp. 216-7 of Hen Frigates: Wives of Merchant Captains Under Sail, by Joan Druett (1998). We're pleased to note that the sewergators were apparently well-fed.

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From Chapter 10
Dropping Anchor
Batavia had a bad reputation for being "a hotbed of sickness and death," as Madam Follansbee phrased it. Built on low, marshy land, it was intersected by canals, which she described as being "inhabited by alligators and all kinds of venomous reptiles." This network of channels also served as the city sewer, "and it is no uncommon sight to see dead horses or even corpses floating down them."

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Reference from appendix
FOLLANSBEE, Mrs. Alonzo. Typed manuscript of journal kept on the ship Logan, 1837-39, two volumes, edited sometime after 1883. The whereabouts of the original is unknown. Log 656 1837-9L, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.