CROCODILES 73 



wards composedly removes the bait. A native snare 

 the noose made of wire cable, and all the adjuncts formed 

 of very strong material has sometimes been successful. 

 On a single occasion we succeeded in poisoning a crocodile 

 at Sabi Bridge, but its custom of stowing its prey away 

 until putrid usually causes the poison to be carried by 

 the water.* They are sometimes shot by trap guns ; but 

 I never knew one to be killed outright by this method, 

 and it is difficult to say whether an animal which has 

 escaped into the water is mortally hit or not. 



I once loaded an old lo-bore musket with a double 

 charge of powder and a handful of shrapnel bullets, and 

 set it over a dead wild dog placed close to the brink of 

 a deep pool. During the night we heard an explosion 

 as of a small cannon, and in the morning it was found 

 that a large crocodile had set the gun off. The latter 

 had been set very low across the line of approach, with 

 a view to hitting the creature in the shoulder, and, there 

 being no marks of shot among the thick bushes facing 

 the muzzle, it was pretty clear that the charge had gone 

 home at a distance of not much over six inches. In 

 spite of this, the crocodile had been able to slip off the 

 bank into deep water, and no traces of him were ever 

 again seen. 



Crocodiles can remain under water for a considerable 

 time at a stretch : I do not believe that it is known for 

 certain how long ; but their powers undoubtedly greatly 

 exceed those of warm-blooded animals in this respect. 

 If suspicious of danger, or for other reasons desirous of 

 escaping detection, they have a way of protruding just 

 the tips of their nostrils, under the shelter of bushes 

 overhanging the bank, taking a fresh breath and at once 



* With more experience of this method we have since suc- 

 ceeded in poisoning a great many crocodiles with strychnine. 



