144 THE CROCODILE AND LITTLE RING-PLOVER. 



lation of evils, unless it were able to remove them by appeal- 

 ing to the charity of some other animal. 



" The narrative of the ancients agrees in showing, that not- 

 withstanding the opposite characters of their powers and dis- 

 positions, there do exist reciprocal duties and mutual attach- 

 ment between the leviathan and the little bird. But what 

 answer is to be given to the question, — which of the two, the 

 crocodile or the trochilus, is most interested in the commence- 

 ment and continuation of this alliance? It seems to me, that, 

 before we knew of what happened at St. Domingo, we could 

 only have recourse to judgement, necessarily accompanied by 

 the ordinary chances of error, to come to a decision on this sub- 

 ject : — but now the question has acquired a foundation in pre- 

 cise and determinate facts. The most interested of the two is 

 evidently the crocodile. It is certain, that if, in the imper- 

 fect state of its organs, the crocodile had been, at the great 

 day of creation, confined to its own resources, — that is to say, 

 if it had been left without any other assistance, — these species 

 could not have lasted through so many ages and come down 

 to our own times. We are then here in a state to give full 

 belief to another account, more decisive and particular, of the 

 motives which influence the crocodile : — it is the passage in 

 which Pliny declares that the trochilus and the crocodile mu- 

 tually invite one another to render this reciprocal service; 

 1 the crocodile opens his mouth as wide as he can, which is 

 pleasantly affected by the pecking of the bird/ 



" Thus, in the absence of a complete organization, Nature has 

 come to the assistance of the crocodile, by inspiring it at least 

 with a cunning and forbearance, which has preserved it from 

 being destroyed as soon as created. Now what assistance 

 could be more useful to him than that of a small and very ac- 

 tive bird, eager in the pursuit of its prey, and quick in seizing 

 it ? Its Arabic name of sag-sag, sexag, or rather tek-tak, 

 which signifies that strikes, expresses the common habit of 

 these little plovers, which are continually striking the sand 

 with the end of their bill, to discover and extract all the mi- 

 nute bodies on which they subsist. Conscious of the pleasure 

 of being relieved, the crocodile shows himself grateful for the 

 service rendered to him, and gently warns his companion to 

 remove himself, when both ought to think of retreating. 

 When we contemplate the perfect security of the little bird in 

 the interior of an immense mouth, which, for every other ani- 

 mal is so cruelly murderous, — when we reflect on the renounce- 

 ment, on the part of the stronger, of his natural ferocity, and 

 the daring intrepidity of the weaker, and the mutual conces- 

 sion arising from reciprocal advantages, — we have one of the 

 most extraordinary pictures of the habits of the animal ere- 



