ALL ARE AGREED. 281 



of the female of that species, which takes such good 

 care of her eggs, and watches her young with so much 

 solicitude ; she might exhibit quite a different dispo- 

 sition when she has her progeny to nourish and pro- 

 tect, than before she has known or after she has 

 passed the cares of maternity. 



There is also a difference between encountering a 

 crocodile on land and in the water ; still, no general 

 rule can be established in either of these two cases. 



We have seen, in the statements of MM. Combes 

 and Tremeaux, great crocodiles extended in the sun, 

 on the banks of the Nile, gliding into the river on 

 the approach of man. On the other hand, we 

 must recall that young crocodile in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Liambye which put Livingstone 

 to flight. Females leading their newly hatched 

 young to the river, and the crocodiles which, in 

 South America, the drying up of the lakes condemns 

 for several months to lead the life of a terrestrial 

 animal, might be more dangerous on land at those 

 times than when they have only come to enjoy their 

 siesta. Whence it follows that, according to species, 

 place, and season, the man who finds himself on the 

 path of a crocodile, out of his ordinary element, 

 runs a variety of chances ; and it is the same if 

 the encounter takes place in the water. 



After the accident which happened to the unfor- 



