296 UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



by the fact, that some one in the first boat had ah-eady hit it 

 with a rifle bullet, and had left it for dead on the sand-bank. 



At the south end of Lake Nyassa, I have seen scores of crocs 

 floating lazily on the water, whilst natives would bathe with the 

 greatest unconcern in the lake. They explained this to me, on 

 the strength of their possessing from their " medicine-man " some 

 special charm which gave them immunity from crocs. If 

 occasionally the crocs caught and devoured some one, it was 

 attributed to neglecting to purchase the necessary charm. 



Visiting the hospital at Kilwa in January 1894, I saw among 

 the patients a man who had lost both his hands quite recently ; 

 a croc had snapped them ofT, when the man was washing 

 clothes. At Kibero, on Lake Albert, I shot a young croc, but 

 the bullet shattered the upper half of the head. 



I shot several crocs at Fajao. The river is simply alive with 

 them at this place, especially at "Crocodile-Pool." The Nile 

 dashing down the Murchison Falls, indents the southern bank 

 with a sequence of curves separated by rocky hills. A series of 

 pools is thus formed, owing to the fierce current of the stream, 

 by the back-wash of the water. Crocodile-Pool is the one most 

 handy for the villagers ; and here, any day, scores of women and 

 children may be seen bathing, in spite of the crocs which bask 

 open-mouthed on some of the rocks in the stream or congregate 

 in scores on the opposite northern bank of the Nile. 



No doubt the Soudanese settlement, which is comparatively 

 recent, has driven most of the reptiles to the Shuli side, but there 

 are still a good many on the British bank of the river. Even 

 though the croc may not be visible, it may be quite close. One 

 day I shot a small bird on a branch overhanging the river. 

 The bird dropped into the water, perhaps six or seven feet from 

 the bank. As it touched the w'ater, the open jaws of a croc rose 

 above the surface, snapped up the bird and disappeared. To 

 my horror one of the boys plunged into the water. As if he 

 could possibly have recovered the bird ! I yelled out to him to 

 come back, fearing every second to see a dreadful tragedy ; the 

 boy himself was much surprised at my excitement. But I took 

 care never again to shoot a bird which might fall into the river. 



On another occasion I heard a loud snap and splash. Look- 

 ing in that direction, I saw^ the head of a croc above the water 

 with a big fish in its jaws ; the posterior half of the fish was flap- 

 ping violently from side to side. A second and a third snap 



