cS THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. hi. 



his head to drink, he is suddenly seized by the nose 

 and dragged beneath the water. Here he is speedily 

 drowned and consumed at leisure. 



The two lower and front teeth of a crocodile pro- 

 ject through the upper jaw, and their white points 

 attract immediate notice as they protrude through the 

 brown scales on the upper lip. When the mouth is 

 closed, the jaws are thus absolutely locked together. 



It is a common opinion that the scales on the back 

 of a crocodile will turn a ball ; this is a vulgar error. 

 The scales are very tough and hard, but a ball from a 

 common fowling-piece will pass right through the 

 body. I have even seen a hunting-knife driven at one 

 blow deep into the hardest part of the back ; and this 

 was a crocodile of a large size, about fourteen feet 

 long, that I shot at a place called Bolgodde\ twenty- 

 two miles from Colombo. 



A man had been setting nets for fish, and was in 

 the act of swimming to the shore, when he was seized 

 and drowned by a crocodile. The next morning two 

 buffaloes were dragged into the water close to the 

 spot, and it was supposed that these murders were 

 committed by the same crocodile. I was at Colombo 

 at the time, and, hearing of the accident, I rode off to 

 Bolgodde to try my hand at catching him. 



Bolgodde is a very large lake of many miles in cir- 

 cumference, abounding with crocodiles, widgeon, teal, 

 and ducks. 



