286 Miscellaneous. Chapt. xxra. 



blandly asked the next morning if you " bad passed a pleasant 

 night!" It would be too exasperating. But that is just what 

 these arnadavats do every night of their lives. And that is just 

 what several of my ideas want to do, they keep on wanting to tuck 

 themselves in, in the wrong places. But I cannot stand that, so 

 these anradavatish ideas are allotted a perch to themselves, whereon 

 !",i'>stl<\ and wriggle, and tuck themselves in higgledly-piggledly, 

 just as they like. Between ourselves, I verily believe that, even 

 after they have been arranged for the night by the printer, they 

 will fidget about and change their places. 1 therefore disclaim all 

 responsibility for their order. 



Crocodiles are very shy, and not to be caught, except by night 

 line. A simple way of setting this is to get a bamboo of full 

 thickness, and 10 or 12 feet in length. To one end of it tie a 

 hook with only a foot of line between hook and bamboo. The 

 line should not be a single cord, which the crocodile can bite in 

 two, but fifteen or twenty pieces of common twine tied together at 

 the ends, but not twisted at all. These will get between his teeth, 

 and escape being bitten, and their united strength will hold him 

 fast enough. Bait the hook, which must be a large and very 

 strong one, with a bull frog, or a fowl's entrails, or a couple of 

 crows, or any meat, and push the whole out into the lake, pool, or 

 ditch in which the crocodiles are, and leave it for the night. If 

 there is a slight current, it is easy enough to attach a stone, by 

 way of anchor, by a long string to the other end of the bamboo, and 

 to drop it in. The line between the bamboo and the hook being so 

 short, the bait is kept near the surface, and is not liable to be 

 concealed amongst weeds, etc., at the bottom; when the crocodile 

 takes the bait and turns down with it. the shortness of the hue, 

 and the ready opposition of the floating bamboo, quickly strikes 

 the hook into him, and the more he tries to gel down the more 

 stoutly the bamboo resists him. for it is full of air from end to 

 end, and is a very powerful buoy. As long as \w keeps to the 

 water the bamboo plays him well, ami it' he tries the land he 

 will soon be brought up with a round turn by the bamboo getting 

 hitched amongst bushes. As far as my experience goes they 

 always take to the land eventually. 



I have been told that good fun can be had out of the 

 crocodile by baiting as above in the day time, and setting a man 



