82 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



one's own followers from taking risks in infested streams, 

 and a kind of fatalism seems to render them incapable 

 of learning caution from the loss of a companion, except 

 perhaps for a time, and at the particular place. 



One morning I was standing on the banks of the 

 Lujenda River in Portuguese East Africa, watching, with 

 my friend Mr. Maugham, our stores crossing. We had 

 just come to the conclusion that what we had fancied 

 was the protruding nose of a crocodile, was, in fact, only 

 a piece of rock, when a local native who was standing 

 near said, "If you will come with me to the village I can 

 show you a big crocodile." Mr. Maugham electing to 

 stay and superintend the porters cross the river, I went 

 alone with the " boy." The village in question lay but 

 some 300 yards distant and proved to be of considerable 

 size, and full of people, who, at the moment, were in a 

 state of pleasurable and noisy excitement over the 

 arrival of our large caravan. " But surely there can be 

 no crocodile here, with all that noise going on," I re- 

 marked. " Oh yes," nonchalantly replied the guide, 

 " he lives here, and does not mind the people." Sure 

 enough, on reaching the bank, the first thing I saw was 

 a huge crocodile basking at full length, and with his mouth 

 wide open, on a rock not more than twenty yards away. 

 He was not in the least disturbed by the chattering of 

 the women and children, and there was no question of 

 stalking him. It was only necessary to sit leisurely 

 down on the bank and put a bullet through his shoulder, 

 when, after shutting and opening his mouth a few times, 

 he fell off the rock and sank like a stone. The headman 

 was quite pleased, saying that the animal took some one, 

 usually a woman or child, at least once a month. " Why, 

 then," I said in astonishment, having noticed that about 

 every second man seemed to be provided with a firearm 



