THE ICHNEUMON 355 



her tail. Schomburgk now cautiously retreated, as in case of 

 a fall into the water below, he would have had but little reason 

 to expect a friendly reception, the monster pertinaciously follow- 

 ing him to the bank, but not deeming it advisable to land, as 

 here it seemed to feel its helplessness. The scales of the cap- 

 tured young one were quite soft and pliable, as it was only a few 

 days old, but it already had the peculiar musk-like smell which 

 characterises the full-grown reptile. Like so many other tropical 

 animals, the Cayman awakens to a more active life in the cool 

 of the evening, and loves to bask in the noontide sun on sand- 

 banks and rocks. Sometimes he is found with wide-extended 

 jaws, covered with brilliantly-feathered birds, which are not afraid 

 of resting there — and indeed a strange kind of sympathy, or 

 mutual understanding seems to exist between creatures so dis- 

 similar. On the banks of the Nile, herons are often seen to wait 

 for hours in the neighbourhood of the crocodiles, until they 

 spring into the water and drive the fishes within their reach ; 

 and a small plover is even said to extract annoying insects 

 from the monster's mouth, who graciously requites the office 

 by not devouring its benefactor. 



The young of the crocodiles have no less numerous enemies 

 than those of the snakes. Many an egg is destroyed in the hot 

 sand by small carnivora, or birds, before 

 it can be hatched ; and as soon as the 

 young creep out of the broken shell, 

 and instinctively move to the waters, 

 the Ichneumon — a kind of weasel, to 



' Ichneumon. 



whom, on this account, the ancient 



Egyptians paid divine homage — or the long-legged Heron 

 gobble up many of them, so that their span of life is short 

 indeed. In the water they are not only the prey of various 

 sharp-toothed fishes, but even of the males of their own species, 

 while the females do all they can to protect them. Even the full- 

 grown crocodile, in spite of its bony harness, is not exempt 

 from attack. Thus, in the river of Tabasco, a tortoise of the 

 genus Cinyxis, after having been swallowed by the alligator, 

 and, thanks to its shelly case, arriving unharmed in its stomach, 

 is said to have eaten its way out again with its sharp beak,* thus 

 ' putting the monster to a most excruciating death. 



* Carl Heller's " Travels in Mexico in the Years 1845-1848." 

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