132 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
upon him rapidly, when some Spaniards who witnessed the scene 
cried out to him to double to and fro. Thus warned he escaped 
his enemy (PLATE II.) 
[No specimens of the Crocodilide have been found in Europe, 
and until very recently none had been: found in Australia ; but lately 
they are discovered to be common in the new colony of Queensland; 
one shot on the banks of the Mackenzie river, which was afterwards 
exhibited at Rockhampton, was twenty feet long. Crocodiles are 
found in Africa, Asia, and the West Indies. The Gavials seem to be 
limited to the Ganges and other large rivers in India. Three other 
species, namely, C. vulgaris, C. galeatus, and C. bifurcatus ; of the 
first, Siam is its habitat; the others are found in the rivers which 
debouch into the Indian Ocean and the Ganges. 
The true Crocodiles are indigenous to Africa and India. ‘Their 
length of head is almost double its breadth. The fourth tooth of 
the lower jaw is the longest and largest of all, and passes into an 
indentation hollowed out in the edge of the upper jaw, becoming 
visible on the outside. The hind feet have on their external edge 
a dentated crest, and the interstices of their toes externally are pal- 
mated. 
The principal type is the Common Crocodile (C. vu/garzs), which 
sometimes attains the length of nine or ten feet. ‘The upper part 
of the body of these Reptiles is of an olive green colour spotted with 
black, and marbled upon the head, neck, back, and tail, with the 
same colour; two or three broad oblique black bands are visible 
upon the flanks of the under part of the body, which is of a 
yellowish green. Formerly Crocodiles were found in all parts 
of the Nile, but lately it is said that they are no longer to be met 
with until the Thebaid and Upper Nile is reached, where they 
exist in preat numbers. They are also found in the rivers Senegal 
and Niger, also in streams in Caffraria and Madagascar. ‘They also 
exist in India. f . 
The Crocodile was considered a sacred animal by the ancient ~ 
Egyptians. In ruins of temples mummies of crocodiles are still 
found in a perfect state of preservation. The Romans introduced 
living crocodiles at the national games in the Colosseum. At first 
only five were imported, under the zedileship of Scaurus. Under 
the Emperor Augustus thirty-six were killed in the circus of 
Flaminius. Several ancient medals represent this reptile, the body 
of which perfectly resembles those now found in the Nile. There is 
a truly wonderful fact in the natural history of the crocodile. 
Listen to what Herodotus, the father of history, tells us with regard. 
