82 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



prey by thus thrashing about in a school of them, 

 and that several of these sharks, combining in 

 their attack, will beat a whale to death ; but there 

 is little evidence of the truth of either assertion. 



THE THRESHER SHARK. 



As for crocodiles and alligators, although their 

 dreadful jaws are their principal weapon, the blow 

 one of these great saurians can give, when he 

 " swings the scaly horror of his folded tail," is 

 justly to be dreaded by anything it may come 

 into contact with. How serviceable this member 

 may be to the East African crocodile, for instance, 

 appears from the narrative of Dr. J. W. Gregory, 

 the author of "The Great Rift Valley," who re- 

 lates his experience with them on the Tana River 

 as follows : 



" The animals are surprised when asleep on the 

 bank, and killed with spears ; but the work is 

 rather dangerous, and inexperienced men are fre- 

 quently knocked over by a blow from the reptile's 

 tail, and dragged into the river. ... I was once 

 fishing in the river Ngatana, from a bank about 

 six feet above it, when the chief came and warned 

 me not to sit so near the water, as a crocodile 

 might knock me into it by a blow with his tail. . . . 



