CROCODILE SHOOTING. 287 



we were within twenty yards of the crocodile. Its 

 whole side was then exposed, and I got an easy shot 

 at its heart. I fired, and the animal did not move. 

 At the moment that the bullet struck it, the jaws 

 opened to their full extent, showing every pointed 

 tooth in the serried rank that filled the hideous 

 mouth, remained at their widest gape for a fraction 

 of a second, and then closed with a snap like that 

 of a springing rat-trap. There was not another 

 movement of the body, but the brute lay stone-dead. 

 Had any particle of life remained in it, it would have 

 struggled to the water ; but this snapping of the 

 jaws, which is an involuntary muscular effort, is an 

 infallible sign that the animal has been killed on 

 the spot. Manap paddled to the water's - edge, 

 struggled nearly waist-deep through the semi-liquid 

 mud towards the brute, and, slipping a rattan round 

 its body, tied it to a pole, which he stuck in the 

 mud. It was a brute some ten feet long, but heavy 

 for its length, and capable of taking off a man with 

 ease. We signalled to the launch, which followed 

 about a quarter of a mile behind us, to pick up the 

 carcass as soon as we had passed on, and continued 

 to paddle slowly down the tide. The next crocodile 

 that we saw had apparently not yet disposed itself 

 for its siesta, for before we approached within range 

 it started up, whirled round, and dashed into the 

 water. Farther on we saw another crocodile floating 

 high in the water, with its head and body above the 

 surface. We approached to within thirty yards before 

 it moved. It then began slowly to subside in the 

 same manner as the one that we had seen before. 



