594 



TJic Country Gcntlcinaiis Magazine 



^hc ftaturaUst. 



THE CROCODILE POND OF MUGGERPEER. 



MR ADAMS in his interesting work, 

 "Wanderings of a Naturalist in 

 India," -'^ contributes a good quota of 

 original field observations, and the closet 

 naturalist will find many facts among them 

 Avhich he may apply to theoretical pur- 

 poses. As an interesting example, we may 

 take tlie account given by him of a visit which 

 he paid to the crocodile pond called Mugger- 

 peer in Scinde. This resort of crocodiles 

 occurs in an oasis lying in the heart of sandy 

 deserts, a considerable distance to the north- 

 west of Kurrachee ; and how these reptiles 

 came there forms a subject of speculation 

 somewhat akin to the puzzle of the reel in a 

 bottle, and as the reader will, we think, find 

 ■only to be explained on the same principle. 



The accompanying illustration from Mr 

 Adams' work will help to give an idea of this 

 reptilian depot, although his graphic descrip- 

 tion scarcely requires it : — • 



" The journey for tlie first few miles is of the usual 

 ^ininteresting description— sandy plains, intersected 

 with deep fissures and ravines, or studded here and 

 there with 'scrub,' the oleander-leafed spurge (Euphor- 

 bia neriiefolia), plentiful in all waste and desert parts 

 of Sc'.nde. 



"Emerging from a defile, which leads through a 

 low range of hills, the traveller enters on a desert 

 waste, stretching ^^'estward towards the mountains of 

 Beloochistan. In the far distance two oases are 

 visible, whose date and coco-nut trees are refreshing 

 to the sight after eight miles of the most monotonous 

 scenery. In the vicinity of the nearest grove is an 

 raitient burial-ground, where may be observed se\'eral 

 curiously carved gravestones. 



"I visited the crocodiles (Crocodilus palustris) on 

 two occasions, at an interval of several years, and 

 although during that time they had been seen by hun- 

 dreds of Europeans, including a certain class of mis- 

 chievous young Englishmen (whose chief amusement, 

 we were told, had been to shy stones and sticks down 

 the throats of the gaping monsters as they lay basking 



■ Edinburgh : Edmonston & Douglas. 1S67. 



on the banks of the pond), yet there seemed no 

 diminution in their numbers, and the wild and unearthly 

 interest of the scene was to us as great as ever. From 

 beneath a little banyan-tree on the verge of the pond, 

 the spectacle, during the steaming heat of a mid-day 

 sun, might call np to the mind of the geologist the 

 eons of the world, when the ' great monsters ' \\allowed 

 in the seething waters of the oolitic ages, M'hen the 

 mighty ' Ichthyosaurus,' and a host of ' fearfully great 

 lizards,' dragons, &c., reigned supreme over sea and 

 land. And as the date-palm now wa\'es its shady 

 boughs over the crocodiles of Muggerpeer, so then 

 did the magnificent tree-ferns, gigantic reeds, and club- 

 mosses, shelter their extinct predecessors. 



" The greater pond is about 300 yards in circum- 

 ference, and contains many little grassy islands, on 

 which the majority of the crocodiles were then liasking ; 

 some were asleep on its slimy sides, others half-sub- 

 merged in the muddy water, while now and then a 

 huge monster would raise himself upon his diminutive 

 legs, and waddling for a few paces, fall flat on his belly, 

 Young ones, from a foot in length and upwards, ran 

 nimbly along the margin of the pond, disappearing 

 suddenly in the turbid waters as soon as we ap- 

 proached. The largest crocodile lives in a long narrow 

 tank, separate from the others. The Fakirs, and 

 natives who worship in the neighbouring temples, have 

 painted his forehead red ; they venerate the old monster, 

 making a salaam to his majesty whenever he shews 

 himself above water. A handsome young Beloochee, 

 whose occupation it was to feed the animals, informed 

 us that the said king \vas upwards of two hundred 

 years old ! (?) and that, by way of a 'tit-bit,' he was 

 in the habit of devouring the young crocodiles. During 

 our visit, this enormous brate was asleep on the banks 

 of his dwelling-place, and seemed quite indifferent to our 

 presence, although we came within a foot of him, and 

 even attempted to arouse him, by rubbing his nose 

 with a leg of goat's flesh, which, however, a young one 

 greedily seized, and dived underwater. Our attendant 

 tried in vain to excite their ferocity, but beyond a 

 feeble attempt to snap their trenchant teeth, the 

 animals shewed no disposition to attack us. 



" A pony was wading about in the jiond, and feed- 

 ing on the grassy hillocks, but the crocodiles took no 

 notice of him. 



" The water in the pond felt cold, although fed from 

 \.\\o hot springs, cue of which was of so high a tem- 

 perature that I could not retain my hand in it ; yet 



