224 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xvn 



Some of the religions of the Sesse islanders were 

 horrible. One of the gods (Kitinda) accepted no 

 offering but men. The crocodile was his priest. When 

 it was considered necessary to appease Kitinda a man 

 was hauled to the brink of the lake, where his knees and 

 elbows were broken so that he could not crawl away. 

 He was then abandoned and the crocodiles came and 

 seized him. (Cunningham.) Sometimes many men 

 were treated in this way to appease the god. 



In Murchison Bay there is a small conical islet 

 (Kabulataka) thickly covered with trees. When the 

 Mahomedan party was defeated, Mutesa ordered the 

 prisoners to be placed on this island and left there to die 

 of starvation or to be eaten by the crocodiles which 

 haunted its margins. A military guard on the mainland 

 prevented the prisoners from swimming ashore. None 

 escaped. 



The danger which human beings run from crocodiles 

 appears to vary in different localities. In the Nile, 

 these reptiles are dangerous to men, and particularly to 

 women who fetch water from the river. In many parts 

 of the river this risk is so appreciable that it is the 

 custom to fence off the watering places with stakes, to 

 prevent the women being seized by crocodiles when 

 dipping water. The fear of crocodiles is hereditary 

 among natives throughout the whole of Africa. 



The frequent reports of trustworthy observers in- 

 dicate that large crocodiles lie in ambush in shadowy 

 parts of the river, or swim on the water like a log of 

 wood, and suddenly knock an unwary man or woman 

 into the water by a swish of their powerful tails. When 

 fishing in crocodile-haunted water it is dangerous to stand 

 too near the river's brink. 



Authentic reports are available of boys being dragged 

 into the water by crocodiles when leaning over the side 

 of a canoe. A. H. Neumann, when sitting in his tent 

 by the shore of Lake Rudolf, was suddenly alarmed by 

 a scream : on rushing out he was horrified to see his 



