252 CROCODILES AND CAYMANS. 



which, as we shall see, is exceeded by those of the 

 Blue Nile. 



" It appeared to me," says Livingstone, " quite 

 needful that their mother should come to their assist- 

 ance at the time of their birth, for it is a question with 

 them not merely of breaking the membrane with which 

 the shell is lined, but also of digging them out of a bed 

 covered with about four inches of earth. " 



It is doubtless this last circumstance which neces- 

 sitates the maternal intervention. 



The young go into the water at the instant of their 

 birth. They feed on insects and larvae ; but voracious 

 fishes make great destruction among them, and it is 

 said that the little crocodiles are by no means safe 

 amongst the large ones. During three months the 

 female of the taper-nosed species nourishes and protects 

 its young. 



Don Eamon Paez, in his " Travel and Adventures 

 in South and Central America," says: " Despite their 

 great voracity, the mother exhibits some degree of ten- 

 derness towards her offspring. Possessed, in this case, 

 of an instinct almost infallible, she returns at a period 

 when incubation is completed, and assists her young in 

 extricating themselves from the shell. Unlike the eggs 

 of birds, crocodiles' eggs are soft and pliable as those 

 of the turtle, yielding, when handled, to the pressure of 



