222 



EASTERN ETHIOPIA 



XVII 



vermin in the folds and creases of the skin of elephants 

 and crocodiles, their cries and fiutterings warn the sleep- 

 ing animals of the approach of danger. 



In former times crocodiles flourished in that section 

 of the Nile which flows through Lower Egypt. The 

 crocodile was worshipped in Egypt from very early 



The Buff-backed Heron which picks leeches from crocodiles and 

 ticks from elephants and cattle. 



times as the representative of the Nile-god Sebek. The 

 chief shrines were at Crocodilopolis in Upper Egypt : 

 the people who dwelt near Thebes and the lake of Moeris 

 regarded them as especially sacred. The people in each 

 of these districts brought up one crocodile in particular. 

 When this had been tamed, they placed, according to 

 Herodotus, bracelets round its fore-feet. When these 



