TUB INDIAN CROCODILE, 



As this reptile is so dangerous ami costly a neighbor to the inhabitant <>i th- river Lank-. 

 many means have U-.ii adopted for it* destruction. One such rn-thod, where a kind of nar- 

 1-...H is -MI ploy-d, is described by Dr. Rappell: "The most favorable noMon is either the 

 winter, when th- animal usually sleeps on sand-banks, luxuriating in the rays of the nun, or 

 th- spring after th.- pair in- time, when the female regularly watch-s th- sand islands where 

 she has imried her eggs. The native finds out the place, and on the south -i ! ( it. that is. 

 t> th- l.-eward. he digs a hole in the sand, throwing up the earth to th- sid- \\hirli h. 

 th- animal to take. Then he conceals himself, and th- Crocodile, should it fail to observe 

 him. rom-.s to th- acm-tom-d -\>i and .soon falls a>l p. 



Th- huntsman th-n darts his luirpoon with all his fon-.- at the animal, for in ord-r th.it 

 its stroke may be successful, th- iron ought to penetrate to the depth of at leaat four inches, 

 in onl-r that th- Larh may I- lix-<l firmly in th- flesh. The Crocodile, on being wounded, 

 rushes into the water, and th- huntsman retreats into a canoe, with which 11 comjwinion hastens 

 t<> his assistance. A piece of wood attached to the harpoon by a Inim .,id. -ims on the 

 water, and shows the direction in which the Crocodile is moving. Th- huntsmen, pulling 

 at this rope, drag the beast to the surface of the water, where it is again pierced by a second 

 harjH,n. . . . 



"When the animal is struck, it by no means remains inactive; on the contrary, it 

 l.i-h.- instantlj wtA i'- r ifl, Ml : ndl ITOtl Id bttfl " rapt MBdV. To |'i'-V'-iii ti.iv 0M 

 rope is made of alwut thirty sejiarate sl-nd-r lin-s. not twisted together, but merely plce<i in 

 juxtaposition, and bound round at intervals of every two feet The thin lines get between the 

 teeth or become entangled about th-m." 



In spite of the great strength of the reptile, two men can drag a tolerably large one out of 

 th- water, ti- up his mouth, twist his 1.-^ , ,\--r his hack, and kill him by driving a sharp steel 

 .spike into the spinal cord just at the back of the skull. 



There are many other modes of capturing and killing the Crocodile, such as a hook 

 baited with meat, to which the voracious reptiles are attracted by the cries of a pig, which 

 is pulled by the tail or otherwise maltreated, for the purjKwe of eliciting those ear-piercing 

 yells which aggrieved swine always produce. The yelping of a dog answers the same 

 purpose, and is used in the same manner. In some cases the negroes are bold enough to 

 engage the Crocodile in its own element, and to attack it with a long knife, which they plunge 

 into the belly. 



The eggs of the Crocodile are about as large as those of the goose, and many in number, 

 so that these terrible reptiles would overrun the country, were they not persecuted in the 

 earliest stages by many creatures, who discover and eat the eggs, almost as soon as they are 

 laid. It is carious that the Crocodile is attended by a bird which warns it of danger, just 

 as the rhinoceros has its winged attendant, and the shark its pilot fish. The Crocodile bird is 

 popularly called the ziczac, from its peculiar cry. 



SEVERAL other species of Crocodiles are known, among which two species are deserving 

 of a short notice, namely, the LVDIAN CROCODILE (Crocodilu* porout\ and the AMKKICAN 

 CROCODILE (Crocodilu* amerio&mu). As the name of alligator is popularly given to these 

 and other reptiles, there is great confusion respecting the precise animal which is under 

 discussion. 



The Indian Crocodile, as its name imports, is an Asiatic species, and is found largely 

 in India. It is sometimes called the DoDBLE-CRXSTKD CROCODILE, because the head is 

 furnished with two long ridges extending from the front of the eye over the upper jaw. 

 This species is common in Ceylon, and literally swarms in the still waters and tanks, 

 though it is but rarely found in rapid streams, and never except in the low lands, the hill 

 marshes being free from these pests. Respecting this animal, Sir K. T.-nn-nt writes as 

 follows : 



The species which inhabit the fresh water is essentially cowardly in its instinct, 

 and hastens to conceal itself on the approach of man. A gentleman who told me the 

 circumstance, when riding in the jungle, overtook a Crocodile evidently roaming in search 



