xiii THE CROCODILE 265 



The Soudanese Arabs eat the flesh of crocodiles, therefore a 

 professional hunter can earn his living by the value of various 

 portions of the reptile, in addition to the musk. The skin is soaked 

 until it becomes soft : it is then cut into long, thin strips, to be 

 used for lashing any wood -work that may be fractured. No 

 animal's hide is so hard as that of the crocodile when treated in 

 this manner, and a good supply is invaluable to an expedition, 

 where repairs are necessary almost daily. The contraction of the 

 wet hide during the process of drying is sufficient to draw together 

 the split stock of a gun, and render it stronger than the original. 



I have seen wheels of field-guns, the spokes of which had 

 become loosened by the dry climate and exposure to the sun, 

 rendered tighter than when new, by interlacing them with raw 

 crocodile's hide, well soaked for two or three days ; these were 

 dried in the shade gradually, and they resembled a cobweb in 

 appearance, but were as hard as horn. 



The difference of taste is unaccountable ; the natives of Central 

 Africa refuse the flesh of a crocodile, although they will eat stinking 

 fish. The Arabs eat the crocodile, but are most particular that 

 fish should be free from taint. 



The eggs of crocodiles are like those of the goose, both in size 

 and shape. The female scrapes a hole in the sand, and lays from 

 fifty to a hundred, which she carefully buries. The young, when 

 hatched, find their way to the river, and are no longer an object 

 of maternal care. 



I have never eaten the eggs, but they are much prized by some 

 tribes, although rejected by others. The natives of the Garo Hills, 

 in the neighbourhood of the Brahmaputra river, collect a harvest 

 of these ova during the season when the river has forsaken the 

 high shore, and the sandbanks are raised above the level. It is a 

 simple matter to discover the nest, as the claw-marks and the 

 heavy trail of the crocodile are distinct upon the sandy soil. 



Crocodiles may be easily captured in nets, and I am surprised 

 that so little attention is bestowed upon their destruction, now 

 that the skin has a marketable value. When shooting these 

 creatures the hunter should be provided with a single-barbed 

 harpoon only half an inch in width, with an extremely sharp point. 

 This should be made of the best steel, and should be fitted upon a 

 bamboo, or some other light but strong pole, about 25 feet in 

 length. A rope should be fixed to the harpoon, and secured to 

 the centre of the pole. When a crocodile is shot, it sinks to the 

 bottom ; it must therefore be sought from a canoe, and when felt 

 by the harpoon, it can be speared. 



