86 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



it, it had apparently remained tenantless. By and by, 

 however, I became conscious that there was a very strong 

 smell of musk in the air, and, though unable to see any- 

 thing the least suspicious looking, I did not quite like 

 the situation, and made the best of my way to the bank. 

 Next day I shot a ten-foot crocodile on the stone on 

 which I had stood, and no doubt he must have vacated 

 it on my arrival the day before, leaving his strong odour 

 clinging to it. 



Females crocodiles lay clutches of several dozen eggs 

 once a year, so far as is known. The eggs are about 

 the size of a goose's, white in colour, and equal at both 

 ends. I have found various numbers, from twenty to 

 fifty, in one nest. They are buried in the sand some- 

 where close to the water's edge, and the sun's rays are 

 made responsible for the hatching. The depth at which 

 they are buried is variable, occasionally as much as 

 eighteen inches, but ordinarily a good deal less. Eggs 

 have generally been found from the beginning of Novem- 

 ber up to about the middle of December in the eastern 

 Transvaal. Any laid later would run considerable risk 

 of being washed away by the floods which occur in the 

 early part of the year. 



The female is usually not far away while the eggs are 

 hatching ; but once the young are in the water it is 

 probable that she takes no further notice of them, unless 

 it be as articles of diet. No doubt the youngsters on first 

 being launched upon life find the world a hard one. Not 

 only are birds of prey, tiger fish, and otters on the look 

 out for them, but they must also go in considerable dread 

 of the larger members of their own species. It is doubtful 

 if more than one per cent, of each hatching survives to 

 an age when they can not only defy their enemies, but 

 prey upon most of them in turn. 



