CROCODILES 75 



was offered to him in a decomposed condition, he 

 devoured it greedily. 



Fish provide the greater proportion of the crocodile's 

 diet, and their scales are found in the opened stomachs 

 more often than animal matter of any other kind. From 

 a high rock overlooking a clear pool in the Zambezi I 

 once watched a crocodile at work. He lay like a log in 

 the water, perfectly rigid and immovable, until his 

 chance came in the near approach of some heedless fish, 

 when one lightning rush placed the prey within his jaws. 

 During the rainy season, when the tributaries are full of 

 water, the fish generally go some way up them to spawn, 

 and subsequently, as they begin to run dry, the small fry 

 come down to the great rivers in thousands. 



At the junction of a stream known as the Mutshidaka 

 with the Sabi there is a sand bar, beyond which the water 

 of the latter river is rather deep. I once, during the 

 month of March, watched two crocodiles, a large and a 

 small one, reaping a rich harvest at this point. The 

 shallows of the Mutshidaka, above the sand bar, were 

 swarming with little fish of all kinds, mostly only a few 

 inches long, which were continually being carried down 

 into the Sabi. The crocodiles lay with their bodies in 

 the deep water, and their lower jaws resting on the sand- 

 bar in about six inches of water. Their mouths were 

 wide open, and as the shoals swam backwards and for- 

 wards they were sucked in wholesale. Every now and 

 then the larger reptile, which, of course, occupied the 

 best place, would make a dash at its companion, and drive 

 it a little farther away ; while the latter after retiring for 

 a time, would gradually begin to edge up again towards 

 the special preserve. The lower jaws of crocodiles, unlike 

 those of mammals, are stationary, and it is the Upper 

 ones which move up and down. It is thus that their 



