AFRICAN REPTILES AND BIRDS 



with some blurred marks, is more easily imagined than 

 described ! 



In British East Africa it is in the Athi and Tana Rivers 

 and Lake Baringo that the sportsman finds the greatest 

 number of crocodiles, as well as the largest. I must con- 

 fess that I am possessed of such a hatred for these brutes 

 that wherever I saw one I shot it, sometimes without even 

 bothering to measure or skin it. One of these beasts 

 killed on the shores of Lake Hannington, showed when 

 we cut up his belly that his last meal had consisted of a 

 couple of pink-colored flamingoes, but otherwise the croco- 

 diles feed chiefly upon smaller animals and fish, which 

 they are able to catch in the streams. 



I once came to a certain village that had been terror- 

 ized for some time by a monstrous old crocodile, which 

 had taken away a good many women and children, accord- 

 ing to the stories told by the natives. They also affirmed 

 that several times spears had been thrown at the big rep- 

 tile, but all to no avail. This brute lived in a swamp 

 formed by a small stream, and was often in hiding near 

 the place where the women came to get water. As I asked 

 them to show me the hiding place of the crocodile, no one 

 wanted to venture near, but they pointed out some bushes 

 in the distance, tmder which they had several times noticed 

 the monster. With my powerful Mauser rifle in hand, I 

 walked cautiously toward this place. When within some 

 thirty yards of the dense, but low bushes, the crocodile sur- 

 prised me by rushing out and making straight for me, with 

 his big jaws wide open and glistening with the many sharp 

 teeth ! I fell on one knee to be near the ground, and opened 

 fire. Before the dreaded reptile could close his mouth, I 

 17 237 



