Manatee 



tide would have covered the bank in less than an 

 hour after our departure, so that unless some 

 nigger was waiting and watching, which was not 

 likely, the inference is that this crocodile de- 

 parted with the hook in his interior. We made 

 a great mistake in not attaching a buoy and 

 light line to the anchor's stock, for this would 

 have given us a chance of at least finding our 

 tackle if he had cleared with it, as he would 

 certainly have been secured in a very short 

 distance, round some rock or root, and its power 

 to hold him was beyond question. 



I have shot a good many crocodiles at different 

 times in Africa. They generally crawl up a 

 steep bank above the river, where they remain 

 for hours, sleeping or dozing in the sun. They 

 are, if much disturbed, extremely hard to 

 approach, and when come on suddenly throw 

 themselves backwards into the water with a 

 splash. They are easily killed if shot through 

 the brain, and if they fall, or are killed in the 

 river, sink at once, to rise to the surface again 

 so soon as the gases formed within them after 

 death are strong enough for the purpose. I once 

 undertook to skin a small one a loathsome job 

 and I could not rid my hands of the musky scent 

 for hours afterwards. 



In the higher reaches of the Calabar River a 

 weird beast has its habitat the manatee. The 

 natives value them highly as food, catching 



47 



