716 



A HISTORY OF 



vour as many of them as they can. The 

 whole brood scatters into different parts of the 

 bottom ; by far the greatest number are de- 

 stroyed, and the rest find safety in their agility 

 or minuteness. 



But it is not the crocodile alone that is thus 

 found to thin their numbers; the eggs of this 

 animal are not only a delicious feast to the 

 savage, but are eagerly sought after by every 

 beast and bird of prey. The ichneumon was 

 erected into a deity among the ancients for its 

 success in destroying the eggs of these mon- 

 sters : at present that species of the vulture 

 called the Gallinazo is their most prevailing 

 enemy. All along the banks of great rivers, 

 for thousands of miles, the crocodile is seen to 

 propagate in numbers that would soon overrun 

 the earth, but for the vulture, that seems ap- 

 pointed by Providence to abridge its fecundity. 

 These birds are ever found in greatest num- 

 bers where the crocodile is most numerous : 

 and, hiding themselves within the thick bran- 

 ches of the trees that shade the banks of the 

 river, they watch the female in silence, and 

 permit her to lay all her eggs without interrup- 

 tion. Then when she has retired, they en- 

 courage each other with cries to the spoil ; 

 and flocking all together upon the hidden 

 treasure, tear up the eggs, and devour them 

 in a much quicker time than they were de- 

 posited. Nor are they less diligent in attend- 

 ing the female while she is carrying her young 

 to the water ; for if any one of them happens 

 to drop by the way, it is sure to receive no 

 mercy. 



Such is the extraordinary account given us 

 by late travellers of the propagation of this 

 animal; an account adopted by Linna3us and 

 the most learned naturalists of the age.* Yet, 

 - 



o Ulloa. b What the author means here by the open- 

 bellied crocodile, we are at a loss to make out : but it is cer- 

 tain that not one of the lizard tribe have any thing like an 



if one might argue from the general analogy 

 of nature, the crocodile's devouring her own 

 young when she gets to the water seerns doubt- 

 ful. This may be a story raised from the 

 general idea of this animal's rapacious cruelty ; 

 when, in fact, the crocodile only seems more 

 cruel than other animals, because it has more 

 power to do mischief. It is probable that it is 

 not more divested of parental tenderness than 

 other creatures, and I am the more led to think 

 so from the peculiar formation of one of the 

 crocodile kind. This is called the Open- 

 Bellied Crocodile, and is furnished with a false 

 belly like the oppossum, where the young 

 creep out and in, as their dangers or necessi- 

 ties require. The crocodile thus furnished at 

 least cannot be said to be an enemy to her 

 own young, since she thus gives them more 

 than parental protection. It is probable, also, 

 that this open-bellied crocodile is viviparous, 

 and fosters her young that are prematurely 

 excluded in this second womb, until they come 

 to proper maturity. 1 " 



How long the crocodile lives we are not 

 certainly informed : if we may believe Aris- 

 totle, i^ lives the age of a man ; but the an- 

 cients so much amused themselves in invent- 

 ing fables concerning this animal, that even 

 truth from them is suspicious. What we know 

 for certain from the ancients is, that among 

 the various animals that were produced to fight 

 in the amphitheatre at Rome, the combat of 

 the crocodile was not wanting.' Marcus 

 Scaurus produced them living in his unrivalled 

 exhibitions ; and the Romans considered him 

 as the best citizen, because he furnished them 

 with the most expensive entertainments. But 

 entertainment at that corrupt time was their 

 only occupation. 



abdominal pouch for the safety of their young. Plin. 

 lib. viii. c. 26, 



