CHAP. VI. VORACITY OF CROCODILES. 193 



but then they are so sharp., that they may be compared 

 to a pair of circular scissors j and such is the great 

 muscular force of these animals, that by a single bite 

 they can snap off a finger with as much ease as a piece 

 of dried stick can be broken. 



(208.) The crocodiles, in comparison to all other 

 existing reptiles, are a race of giants, with habits and 

 manners the most ferocious, and with an aspect well 

 calculated to excite terror and dismay. They are, 

 fortunately, all inhabitants of other climates, far re- 

 moved from Europe. They swarm in the rivers of 

 India, are equally prolific in Africa, and are by no 

 means uncommon in the salt and fresh waters of 

 Tropical America. A few anecdotes, authenticated by 

 modern observers, will show the dangerous instincts of 

 these hideous creatures. " In India, the streams are 

 alive with these river pests, whose fondness for human 

 flesh renders that chiefest luxury in a tropical climate, 

 bathing, a matter of extreme danger. Yet it is 

 strange to see with what perfect indifference the natives 

 take the water. A beautiful specimen of an alligator's 

 head was here given to the governor ; he was rather a 

 distinguished monster, having carried off, on different 

 occasions, six or eight brace of men from an indigo 

 factory in the neighbourhood. A native, who had long 

 laid wait for him, at length succeeded in slaying him 

 with poisoned arrows. One of these notoriously ghant- 

 frequenting alligators is well nigh as rich a prize to 

 the poor native who is fortunate enough to capture 

 him, as a Spanish galleon is to a British frigate ; for on 

 ripping open his stomach, and overhauling its freight, 

 it is not unfrequently found to contain ' a choice as- 

 semblage' as advertisers have it of gold, silver, or 

 brass bangles- (bracelets) and anklets, which have not 

 been so expeditiously digested as their fair owners, 

 victims to the monster's voracity." * The Dutch settled 

 in the East Indies, with their characteristic cunning 

 and tyranny, used to keep a great number of crocodiles 

 .* Pen and Pencil Sketches in India, vol. ii. p. 192, 19a . 

 O 



