CROCODILE STORIES 281 



It was really quite dangerous to go near the river at 

 all, for you never knew when a crocodile might be lurking 

 near. One day several sailors went down to the bank to 

 gather the leaves of a pretty, pink, floating convolvulus, 

 which, when chopped up, made a very good imitation of 

 spinach, and was much relished for dinner. The roots 

 were fast in the mud, but the leaves spread about like 

 water-lilies, and had to be drawn in by their stems. One 

 of the sailors was reaching out as far as he could stretch 

 after a particularly fine young leaf, when a crocodile 

 darted out and seized him by the elbow. The pain was 

 frightful, and the man would at once have fallen help- 

 lessly into the river had not his comrades instantly flung 

 their arms round his waist and held him back. Then 

 began a fearful tug-of-war. Neither party would let go, 

 till at last the elbow joint itself gave way. The crocodile 

 went off triumphantly with the hand and forearm, and the 

 sailor was carried off to be doctored in the camp. 



This was bad enough, but sometimes worse happened. 

 It was no uncommon thing, if one person was out alone 

 on any errand that took him near the river, for nothing 

 more ever to be heard of him. If a woman was washing 

 at the hank in the shallow water, her legs might be seized, 

 and she would be dragged underneath before anyone in 

 the boat moored close by knew what had occurred. This 

 once actually happened to a negro girl ; and how she had 

 met her end was afterwards proved in a ghastly manner. 



Life was made such a terror by the constant and 

 often unseen presence of these crocodiles, that Baker lost 

 no opportunity of killing all he could with a small rifle, 

 called ' the Dutchman,' kept solely for this purpose. It 

 was so very accurate in its aim, that at a hundred 

 yards it was possible to hit a crocodile which was 

 lying on a sandbank in the two places where death was 

 immediate, behind the eye, or through the shoulder ; often 

 the creature never even stirred, but lay dead in its place. 



Baker had one day been out on some business, and 



