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LXXX. The true fish- cat iji<^ crocodile, Gainalis Gauge- 

 licHs, Gmclin, wliich attains upwards 



The fisli-cntnip' ciocoinle. „ ,,,, p > • ^ l^ • c 1 



^ of 20 feet m length, is found 



throughout the Indus, Ganges, Jumna, Brahmaputra, 

 Mahanuddi and their afllucnts, also in some of the int.crven- 

 ing rivers, hut I have not ohserved it in Burma or Madras. 

 This species has a long and slender snout, is usually timid 

 of man, excojifing when the locality where its eggs are 

 de])osited in the sand is invaded. It does not appear to he 

 a i^ccdcr on carrion, hut fish, turtles and tortoises form its 

 diet. Ill 18G8 it was deemed one of the sights at Cuttack 

 to watch these enormous reptiles feeding helow the irriga- 

 tion weir, which was impeding the upward ascent of hrccd- 

 ing-fish. Their long hrown snouts would he seen rising to 

 tlio surface of the Avater, with a fish cross-wise in their jaws : 

 they tossed their heads, the finny prey was thus ilung up 

 into the air, descending head foremost fell into their captors' 

 comparatively small mouths. One could not resist thinking 

 that the crocodiles were attem])ting to teach the Europeans 

 and natives a lesson, hy practically demonstrating to them 

 the folly of permitting a wholesale waste of good 

 animal food to nourish the carcasses of huge useless reptiles, 

 and which might hotter he employed for the same purpose 

 hy man. To show their fecundity, I may mention that tho 

 overseer in charge of the Narraje weir, meeting with a 

 hrood, destroyed 09 in three hours hy shooting. At this 

 ])lace I ohtained a young one which had heeomc entangled 

 hy its teeth in a fishing net, and on enquiring of the fisher- 

 men whetlier they ever killed them, tlaey at once protested 

 against such a course. Their argument Avas — " are not we 

 hoth of the fish-destroying races, and how could avc he so 

 cruel as to slaughter them ?" As to the destruction they 

 occasioned, they merely remarked that they would do the 

 same if they could, and I can personally testify to their 

 catching all they were ahlc. However, it must not ho ex- 

 pected that fishermen will destroy those vermin when young, 

 neither will they shoot them when old, as they do not employ 

 guns. But will the native sjiortsman he likely to do this ? 

 Certainly not, as he has no inducement to do so, and he will 

 never waste his ammunition on crocodiles, which would bo of 

 no advantage to him when killed. With fisheries that arc 

 deteriorating, the presence of these large fish-eati7ig I'cjitiles 

 might he dispensed witli, as they are not required to keep 

 up the halance of Nature, neither are they useful as 



