I20 A NATURAL HISTORY 



live if he fpeaks Truth, bat if otherwife, to deftroy him *. 

 Among the Rarities in Qj-ef jam-College^ London ^ is a Crocodile 

 about two Yards and a half long. Crocodiles are little known in 

 Europe, but common in the Lidies. 



The Land Crocodile, call'd Seincus, is varioufly defcrlbed. In 

 the Molucca lilands they are accounted the fierceft of Monfters, 

 contrary to thofe of the Nile, according to fome Writers -f-. Har- 

 ris fays J, that they are very harmlefs, and in fome places fo 

 tame, that Children play with them. Le Comte fays, what are 

 C2i[\td fmall Crocodiles, are huge Lizards, found all over the Woods 

 in Siam, as alfo in Houfes and Fields ||. 



This Land Crocodile is indeed an amphibious Animal, lives 

 partly in the Water and partly upon dry Ground : It has four 

 llender Legs like a Lizard j its Snout is fliarp, and its Tail fhorr, 

 cover'd with fmall Scales of a filver Colour. 'Tis hatch'd in 

 Egypt, near the Red- Sea, \i\ Libya, and the /W/Vj. 



In Leviticus there's mention made of a kind of Crocodile, 

 in the Hebrew called Choled, which the Septuagint tranflates 

 y.^oKo^nx<^ X,^p(rat(^, a land Crocodile, which is a kind of Lizard, 

 that feeds upon the fweeteft Flowers it can find ; this makes its 

 Intrails to be very much valued for their agreeable Smell. Bel- 

 lonius fays, it has four Feet, and a round knotty Tail, and is as 

 big as the Salamander. 



Th E R e's fcarce any way to manage him by Land, unlefs it be 

 by a Wile, as they do on the Banks of Nilus, where little Huts ' 

 are ere<fted, from whence the Watchmen, upon the Approach of 

 a Crocodile, fpring out with long Branches in their Hands, which 

 they, with great Dexterity, thruft into its Throat ; and not being 

 able to extricate itfelf, it falls down, upon which others of them 

 difcharge their Arrows at his Belly, which being a tender part, he 

 is foon killed -, but in Water he is quickly noofed, becaufe for want 

 of a Tongue, he can't fafely open his wide Mouth, without being 

 fuffocated. 



This terreftrial Crocodile comes to us by way of Alexandria 

 and VeJiice, and is very ufeful in phyfical Prefcriptions. 



LXXVII. 



* DelJon on Madagafcar, in Atl. Afr. 



f Barth. Leonardo de Argenfolas Diicovcry of ihe Molucca and Philippir^s Iflands. 



% Atlas Arner. 26-^. 



i) Memoirs J 2d Edit. p. 502. 



