EXISTING CROCODILES 2381 



common till above the second cataract. In the upper reaches of the Nile it still ex- 

 ists in its pristine numbers, whence its range extends southward to the Cape and 

 northward to Senegal. The species also occurs in Madagascar, while it likewise still 

 lingers in Syria, in the neighborhood of the Zerka, or Crocodile river, near Csesarea. 

 Distinguished from the estuarine crocodile by the absence of the ridge in front of each 

 eye, this species differs from the other two members of the same group by the want 

 of any ridge on the middle of the snout or forehead, so that its whole skull is com- 

 paratively smooth. In size it falls but little, if at all short of the estuarine croco- 

 dile, although differing from the latter by the uniformly dark olive color of the adult. 



As the habits of this crocodile do not differ in any important respects from 

 those of the other members of the genus, they do not require any detailed notice, 

 although a few words must be devoted to its cult by the ancient Egyptians, among 

 whom it was known by the name of champsa. By these remarkable people the 

 crocodile was regarded as the symbol of sunrise possibly, it has been suggested, 

 on account of the brightness of its eye, or perhaps, because that is the first part to 

 appear when the creature emerges from the water. Among the places where the 

 crocodile was specially reverenced were Thebes and the shores of Lake Moeris, as 

 well as Ombi, near Syene. At Thebes a crocodile was reared from youth in the 

 temple, where it was fed with sacred food, adorned with rings and bangles, and 

 worshiped with divine honors; while after death its mummified body was carefully 

 preserved in the catacombs, where hundreds of embalmed crocodiles are still to be 

 found. Something analogous to this Egyptian veneration for the crocodile is to be 

 met with in other countries. Leith-Adams tells us that the Indian crocodile is re- 

 claimed by certain religious sects in India, being rendered so tame that it will leave 

 its pond to feed out of its keeper's hand; while Mrs. R. B. Lee relates that at Dix 

 Cove, on the northwestern coast of Africa, a pair of tame crocodiles were kept in a 

 pond by priests, dressed in white garments, who fed their charges with snow-white 

 fowls. 



In the Upper Nile the favorite haunts of the crocodiles are sand banks, situated 

 in parts of the river where the current is not too strong. There they may be seen 

 at all hours of the day sleeping with widely-opened mouths, in and out of which 

 the black-backed plover (as mentioned on p. 2253 of the preceding volume) walks 

 with the utmost unconcern. According to Arab accounts, one and the same croco- 

 dile has been known to haunt a single sand bank throughout the term of a man's 

 life; thus leading to the conclusion that these creatures must enjoy a long term of 

 existence, during the whole of which they continue, like other reptiles, to increase 

 in size. In common with this feature of uninterrupted growth, all crocodiles are 

 also distinguished by their remarkable tenacity of life; the shots that prove in- 

 stantaneously fatal being those that take effect either in the brain itself or in the 

 spinal cord of the neck. It is true, indeed, that a shot through the shoulder will 

 ultimately cause death; but it allows time for the animal to escape into the water, 

 where its body- immediately sinks. To reach the brain, the crocodile should be 

 struck immediately behind the aperture of the ear. Although it is commonly sup- 

 posed that the bony armor of these reptiles, is bullet-proof, this is quite erroneous; 

 if the plates are struck obliquely, the bullet will, however, frequently ricochet. 



