CROCODILE SHOOTING. 285 



swallowed. In a dead tree, standing white and gaunt 

 against the blue sky, two other sea-eagles wrangled 

 and screamed in discordant tones. At the water's- 

 edge sandpipers tripped with dainty feet along the 

 mud, and rose to take short flights as we approached 

 too close. Their call " ke-di-di ke-di-di " (whence 

 they get their Malay name) was the same as that of 

 the English sandpiper, and the clear fresh notes were 

 reminiscent of a cooler clime and a softer scene. 

 Green pigeons some of the most lovely birds that 

 fly fluttered from tree to tree in search of fruit; 

 and, unseen in a mangrove-tree, an imperial wood- 

 pigeon called to its mate. No thin "coo" like that 

 of the English bird was his note, but a deep " boom " 

 that resounded far through the forest. 



Before long we saw a crocodile floating in the 

 stream. It was close to the edge of the mud, prob- 

 ably making up its mind to crawl up the bank, and 

 taking a look round before it did so. Only the tip 

 of its snout and its eyes appeared above the surface, 

 but the distance between these three points showed 

 it to be a big one. 



The slanting rays of the sun shone on it, and we 

 could see the outline of its body in the water. It 

 was probably some sixteen or seventeen feet long; 

 but it had not grown to that length without learning 

 wisdom, and, as it saw us, it gently sank out of sight. 

 There was no hurry, no alarm or excitement. It 

 merely subsided, and let the water rise over it and 

 hide it. In such fashion might the submarine boat 

 of an inventor's dreams sink below the surface of the 

 water. And when the crocodile had gone there was 



