THE RIVER 43 



numerous. Certainly the "mugger" is but seldom to 

 be observed lying on the sand banks. 



Both varieties are sufficiently ugly — hideous, I might 

 even say — but of the two the palm for ugliness must 

 be given to the " mugger," for its great clumsy head 

 lacks the picturesqueness which the long, sharp-pointed 

 jaws give to the head of the "gurrial." But, hideous 

 as both varieties of alligators are, their appearance 

 does not excite the same feeling of loathing and re- 

 pulsion as does that of a rat and some other animals 

 who are certainly more symmetrically formed. 



Although about here, on the Ganges, the long-nosed 

 alligator is termed the "gurrial," and the short-nosed 

 alligator the " mugger," this nomenclature does not 

 universally prevail. In other parts of Upper India the 

 names are oppositely bestowed : the long-nosed variety 

 is termed the " mugger," and the short-nosed variety is 

 designated as the "gurrial." 



I had been sitting on the terrace for some time con- 

 templating the alligators, the melon beds, and the great 

 expanse of sand beyond them. Then by chance I 

 happened to cast my eyes down the sluggish stream 

 immediately below me. 



The opposite bank was very broken and uneven. As 

 I looked it seemed to me that fifty yards or so away 

 there was something moving along the bottom of the 

 bank, close by the water's edge. I looked attentively, 

 and was sure. It was a long, large animal, slowly making 

 its way up the stream in my direction. It came nearer, 

 and I perceived it was an otter, what the natives term 

 the "jul-manus," or water-man. 



