152 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Phcia by Sihalailic PhaU. Co. 



CROCODILES AND ALLIGATORS, WITH Y O L' N G 



Nocivlthitanditi^ their brci'erhially irmcibU dnposilKifHy r/u-se rcpriU^^ oj ail agci and dimen 

 siofis, herd together on the most amiable terms 



The method adopted in 

 O I! e e n s 1 a n d and N o r t h 

 Austraha for capturing these 

 destructive monsters is that 

 of a running noose, so at- 

 tached to a suitabl)- flexible 

 mangrove tree growing in the 

 vicinity of its nocturnal runs 

 as to constitute a gigantic 

 spring-trap. A dead carcase 

 or other suitable bait is added 

 to lure the animal to its 

 doom. The crocodiles thus 

 caught are alive and uninjured, 

 and can be dispatched or 

 reserved for menagerie exhi- 

 bition. A somewhat amusing 

 incident attended the trans- 

 port of a " reprieved " captive 

 b}' steamship from Cairns to 

 Brisbane, Queensland, a few 

 years since. In the dead of 

 night, when all but the watch and engineer had retired to rest (they have to anchor and lay-to 

 at night in the Great Barrier Reef channels), the saurian managed to free himself from his 

 bonds, and started on a voyage of discovery around the decks. Arriving at the stoke-hold, he 

 either incontinently stumbled into it, or descended of malice prepense, sniffing the chance of 

 a supper or a good joke at the engineer's expense. Anyway, the engineer was aroused from his 

 peaceful dozings with the impression that the last day of reckoning had arrived, and, rushing 

 up the hatchway, awakened the whole ship's strength with his frantic outcries. 



The Nile Crocodile, the most familiar form in European menageries, and once abundant 

 throughout Egypt to the Nile's delta, has now retired to the upper reaches of that great 

 ri\'cr. It never attains to the dimensions of the estuarine form. By the ancient Egyptians, 

 as is well known, this species 

 was pampered and worshipped 

 with divine honours while 

 living, and after death em- 

 balmed and preserved in the 

 catacombs. 



Other notewortlu' croco- 

 diles, <if which space will allow 

 only (if the mention of their 

 names, are the A.MERRWN or 

 ORINOCoCRi)C(-)l>ILE,and the 

 LONG-SNOUTEI) CROCOI )I1,L 



of West Africa, which distant!}' 

 approach to the LoXG- 

 SNOUTED Gavial or Garl\l 

 of India, in which the snout 

 is elongated in a beak-like 

 manner, and armed w ith close 

 rows of long, recurved teeth, 

 specially adapted for its ex- 



fhtlo I,) Rtbrrt D Curttn, iiy.] lPh,l,,.t,lfh,a 



A CROCODILE FRO.M SOUTHERN UNITED STATES 



The teeth of eroiodiles, ai compared tilth those of alligators^ are much less uniform in lizt 



and character 



