114 LECTURE IX. 



was known to frequent. Time was allowed 

 him to swallow the sheep, when the wire was 

 pulled the water then became violently agi- 

 tated a loud report was heard, and up came 

 the crocodile dead, and his stomach blown open. 

 It is a curious fact, that in the Nile no crocodiles 

 are found in certain degrees of latitude, but 

 they are between 26 and 28. Cairo is 30, 

 where they are never seen. 



The female deposits her eggs in the sand, 

 about a hundred in number, and nearly the 

 size of those of a goose. An animal called the 

 ichneumon has long been famous in Egypt, 

 where it goes by the name of Pharaoh's rat. 

 It hunts for, digs up, and devours the eggs of 

 the crocodile, thus preventing too great an in- 

 crease of these dangerous reptiles. 



Mr. Curzon, in his travels to visit the monas- 

 teries of Egypt, gives the following pleasing 

 and interesting account of his adventure with a 

 crocodile. He says : 



" I had always a strong liking for crocodile 

 shooting, and had killed several of them. On 

 one occasion I saw, a long way off, a large one, 

 twelve or fifteen feet long, lying asleep under 

 a perpendicular bank, about ten feet high, on 



