TEE COW AND TEE CBOCODILE 379 



them had become an object of great veneration to the 

 tribes. Every morning her horns were wreathed with 

 fresh flowers, and she had become the sheik or chief- 

 tainess of all the herds, for she had performed the 

 remarkable feat of having caught a crocodile. 



It had happened in this way : she had gone to drink 

 at the river, at a place where the banks sloped gradually 

 down to the water's edge. While she drank, a large 

 crocodile came out and seized her by the nose, with the 

 intention of dragging her down to the water, and there 

 drowning her, according to crocodile custom. Far from 

 this, however, for once he found that he had met his 

 match. The cow being heavy and strong, and the slope 

 of the bank gradual, she succeeded in dragging the 

 crocodile out of the water, and as the creature would not 

 let go its hold, and the cow was equally determined and 

 more powerful, they gradually receded several yards from 

 the water's edge. The natives attracted by the bellowing 

 of the cow, rushed to the rescue, and soon put an end 

 to the combat by despatching the crocodile with their 

 spears. Its head was kept as a trophy, and the cow 

 became a heroine for life. 



A bullock on another occasion was less fortunate, or, 

 perhaps, less plucky and determined ; a crocodile having 

 succeeded in dragging it into the water, several times, in 

 its struggles, its body was seen to appear above the 

 surface, its head being held down by its captor. At 

 length nothing was visible but its tail, writhing and 

 twisting convulsively in the air, like a snake, till at length 

 that too ceased to move, and disappeared. Presently the 

 dead body rose to the surface, and was seen to float, 

 while the triumphant crocodile swam alongside, contem- 

 plating its victim with satisfaction. 



