CROCODILE SHOOTING. 283 



and soon disturbed a small crocodile a youngster 

 some four feet long. It had been hidden from sight 

 by a dip in the bank, and we were upon it before 

 it knew its danger. Its efforts to reach the water 

 and safety were frantic. All its four legs clawed 

 madly and splutteringly at the yielding mud, and 

 its tail swung wildly from side to side as if to 

 help it on its way. But, for all its ungainly ap- 

 pearance, it covered the ground at an extraordinary 

 pace. The first bullet struck the bank just below 

 it, and plastered it with driven splashes of mud ; 

 the second hit it fairly behind the shoulder just 

 as it reached the water, and turned it over on its 

 back. The head and body disappeared under water, 

 and only the tail remained on the bank: a hind-leg 

 waved convulsively in the air. " Mampus ! " cried 

 Manap a contemptuous expression, of which "dead 

 as mutton" is a fair rendering; and he paddled on 

 slowly and with the deliberation that befitted a man 

 who was going to pick up something barely worth 

 the shooting. But " mampus " the crocodile was not, 

 for, as we came up, the leg that had appealed to 

 high heaven assumed a more natural position, and 

 with a desperate effort the animal righted itself, 

 and managed to slide down into the muddy stream. 

 Manap dug his paddle deep into the water, and put all 

 the strength of his broad back into his stroke. There 

 is no harm in thinking little of your game when 

 you have brought it to bag, but if a man can spare 

 any effort to make the game his when success is 

 as yet uncertain, then either the game or the man 

 is worth very little. As the dug-out shot up to 



