NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 303 



typical children finds himself rather inconveniently near 

 the open mouth of the destroyer, and is represented as 

 starting back accordingly; while another lends him a 

 hand to help him out of the dangerous neighbourhood. 

 Poor old Nilus ! he must have had warm work to keep 

 his crocodiles in anything like order when the terror- 

 stricken son of Clymene was hurried by his father's run- 

 away horses he knew not where, and the quiet, steady 

 Moon beheld "with amazement her brother's chariot dash- 

 ing along beneath her own. The crocodihan commotion 

 under that smoking state of things must have been the 

 cause of his extremity of horror, for the Tanais, the Cai- 

 cus, the Lycormas, the Xanthus, the Mseander, the 

 Euphrates, the Ganges, the Danube, the Ismenus, the 

 Phasis, the Tagus, the Caister, Avhose swans then sung 

 their last and died ; the Rhine, the Rhone, the Tiber, — 

 all suffered equally, and stood their ground ; but 



Nilus in extremum fugit pertenitus orbem 

 Occuluitque caput, quod adhuc latet. 



Father Thames was hapjDily out of the way, or not suf- 

 ficiently known to the polite world on that occasion. 

 His turn, however, is at hand. A foreign prince and 

 priest, shot from his proper sphere, is coming down upon 

 him : but we will venture to prophesy that he will not 

 ran away like the affrighted Nile, but continue to go be- 

 tween his banks, and look the Archbishop of Westminster 

 boldly in the face. 



As the serpents had theii' Psylll, so the crocodiles had 

 their Tentyritce : — 



Moreover, tliere is a kind of people that cary a deadly hatred to 

 the crocodile, and they be called Tentyrites, of a certain isle even 

 within Nilus, which they inhabite. The men are but small of 

 stature, but in this quarrell against the crocodiles they have hearts 

 of lions, and it is wondrous to see how resolute and courageous 

 they are in this behalfe. Indeed this crocodile is a terrible beast 

 to them that flie from him : but, contrary, let men pursue him or 

 make head agaiue, he runnes awaj- most cowardly. Now, these 



