76 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



owners are enabled to lie quite flat upon rocks or sand 

 by the water's edge, with their mouths wide open. 



In addition to fish, mammals of all descriptions and 

 sizes when in or at the edge of the water are liable to be 

 seized. A favourite method of the crocodile is to lie 

 immersed close to a drinking-place either at the brink 

 of the main stream, or of some adjoining pool. Scent, 

 sight, and hearing are all very acute : the moment 

 anything is heard approaching, two eyes, barely showing 

 above the surface, are cautiously protruded. They 

 quietly disappear, and their owner, completely concealed, 

 floats a little nearer. Arrived within striking distance, 

 he waits until his intended victim's head is lowered to 

 drink, when, with a swift rush, he seizes the nose or leg. 

 Having once got their hold, the formidable jaws never 

 relax. However desperately the victim struggles, the 

 advantage which the crocodile derives from the purchase 

 of his feet against the bottom, and his long and powerful 

 tail, is seldom to be disputed successfully, and the water 

 quickly closes over the tragedy. Since the reptile chooses 

 his own ground, the combat must, in the nature of things, 

 always be an unequal one, and though some very large 

 and powerful mammal might conceivably be able to pull 

 a small or medium-sized crocodile out of the water, it is 

 doubtful if it would ultimately escape from the bulldog 

 grip and cold-blooded tenacity of its enemy. 



CHAPTER XI 

 ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES 



OF course, the crocodile only attacks such animals as 

 it considers itself able to overcome, relative to its and 

 their individual size. Probably the only two species 



