CHAPTER IX 



REPTILES AND FISH 



A BOOK about life on the Victoria Nyanja may reasonably 

 be expected at least to mention the crocodile, known to 

 the natives as " E'gonya," 



His scarcity was what one noticed most, for which a 

 reason will be suggested later. One had read so much 

 about crocodiles in tropical rivers lying thickly on 

 the mud, and in great numbers in the water, that one 

 had expected to see the same in the lake. This was far 

 from being the case, and it soon became clear that one 

 or two could usually be seen on any day frequenting 

 the same haunts, but that it was possible to go long dis- 

 tances and never see a crocodile, and young specimens 

 are rarely seen. 



Their favourite haunts are of two kinds — a stretch of 

 coastline fringed with rushes and reeds growing in shallow 

 water, wherein they lie with only the top of the head 

 and scaly ridge of the back and tail showing, or an open 

 shore of rock or sand on which they warily bask. Near 

 my camp on Bugalla the northern bay furnished a haunt 

 of the first Idnd, and a large crocodile could nearly always 

 be seen there. Ngamba and Tavu Islands provided 

 rocky basking places, and a favourite large rock on the 

 east side of Tavu was seen, whenever visited, to have 

 one or more crocodiles basking on it, and on one occasion 

 seven were seen there, which was the greatest number 

 ever seen together. It was amusing to see these huge 



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