AN ERROR IN NATURAL HISTORY. 209 



direct route of the raft submerged themselves before 

 they reached it, when their course could be distinctly 

 traced by the large ripple of three waves thrown up 

 by their displacement of the underneath water. I 

 think that there is no animal on the face of the earth 

 so thoroughly disliked by the human family, so I lost 

 no opportunity of firing at these loathsome brutes 

 when an easy or close shot presented itself. More- 

 over, they are such thorough cowards, that a wound 

 never provokes an attack, but, on the other hand, 

 causes them to seek safety in flight. In some rivers 

 crocodiles are much more dangerous to our race than 

 in others ; this is the result of whether their habitat 

 is, or not, abundantly stocked with fish, which is 

 when obtainable, their principal food ; nor is their 

 size to be taken as a criterion of the mischief they 

 can do to human beings, so a six- or eight-foot croco- 

 dile is as much to be dreaded as one double its 

 length. Of course the struggle for life with a small 

 one can be more prolonged ; but if assistance does 

 not arrive, or some unforeseen fortuitous accident 

 occur, the result in the end is certain to be the same. 

 Many assert that when they seize their victim they 

 cannot afterwards release their hold. This is an 

 error, for I have known cases that entirely contradict 

 this supposition. 



Saurians prefer their food in a state of decomposi- 

 tion ; consequently they take their prey to some 

 favourite haunt, there to remain till it suits their 



p 



