BLOWING UP A CROCODILE. 359 



then commenced pulling Sidhoo over by means of the cord. 

 The black face, with the white teeth and turban, were bobbing 

 above the muddy water, when all at once the groom threw up 

 his arms, gave a loud shriek, and sank below the surface. 

 Mr. Hall, who had doubled the cord round his hand, was 

 dragged into the water, where" he got a momentary glimpse 

 of the long serrated tail of a mugger, lashing the water a short 

 way ahead of him. In his efforts to save himself, he lost his 

 hold of the string, and with much difficulty clambered up the 

 slippery bank of the nullah. All was now still. Only Sid- 

 hoo's turban was to be seen floating loosely a considerable 

 way down the stream. Hall ran towards it, with the sort of 

 feeling which makes a drowning man catch at a straw ; and, 

 by means of a stick, he succeeded in fishing it out, and car- 

 ried it with him, as the only remnant of Sidhoo he could give 

 an account of. 



Bad news soon spreads in an Indian village, and Sidhoo's 

 fate was soon made known to his wife ; and in a short time 

 she came crying and sobbing to the bungalow, and laid her 

 youngest child at our friend's feet. The tears glistened in 

 the poor fellow's eyes as he tried to soothe and console her ; 

 which he did by promising to provide for her and her children. 



Although Hall was generally running over with fun, we 

 smoked our cheroot that evening in silence ; except when we 

 proposed schemes for the annihilation of the crocodiles. A 

 great many plans were discussed but none that offered much 

 chance of success. The next day, after breakfast, I was 

 showing my visitor a galvanic blasting apparatus, lately re- 

 ceived from England, for blowing up the snags, (roots of trees) 

 which obstruct the navigation of the river. I was explaining 

 its mode of action to him, when he suddenly interrupted me 

 with 



" The very thing ! Instead of snags, why not blow up the 

 muggers ?" 



I confessed that there could be no reason why we should 



