CROCODILES 135 



had held him under water until it supposed him 

 drowned it had carried him to the cavity and 

 left him for dead, but the lad had recovered 

 consciousness and was rescued before the brute 

 returned to make a meal of him. 



The story is told of two natives who at- 

 tempted to cross the Nile in a leaky dugout 

 canoe. They had gone but a short distance 

 when they saw a crocodile floating on the sur- 

 face twenty rods away. It sank and came to 

 the top much nearer to them; again it went 

 down and this time reappeared only ten rods 

 from the canoe. 



The natives are familiar with the habits of 

 these reptiles, and the canoemen realised from 

 its actions that it intended to attack them, so 

 they bent all their efforts toward reaching shore. 

 They were half-way across when the croc's head 

 burst from the water close to the stern and made 

 a lunge at the man in the back of the canoe. 



The blacks had been shouting for help, and the 

 people who had gathered with spears and clubs 

 ran along the bank shouting and gesticulating. 

 Encouraged by the villagers and spurred by a 

 dexterous swing of the croc's tail that just missed 

 one of the men, the two paddled for shore with 



