186 CROCODILE. 



form, to attract the eye ; but in the former quality there 

 are some species, natives of warmer climates, which might 

 justly challenge our attention and admiration. 



THE CROCODILE 



Is a native of Asia and Africa, but is most common in the 

 latter. It frequents large rivers, such as the Nile, Niger, 

 &c. preying chiefly on tish, but occasionally seizing any 

 animal that comes in its way. It is of great size, being 

 often seen twenty feet in length, and is even recorded to 

 have exceeded thirty feet. The scales of the crocodile 

 form a compact and curious armour, so strong as to repel 

 a musket ball, and giving the animal the appearance of 

 being clad in a case of regular carved work. Its colour 

 when full grown, is blackish-brown above, and yellowish- 

 white beneath, the upper parts of the legs and sides are 

 sometimes varied with deep yellow, and sometimes tinged 

 with green. The eyes are provided with a nictitating 

 membrane like that of birds, being a transparent and 

 and moveable skin. The mouth is very wide, and the 

 jaws are furnished with sharp pointed teeth, to the number 

 of thirty or more in each jaw. The legs are short, but 

 strong and muscular. The hinder feet are webbed, and all 

 the feet are furnished with curved claws, strong and sharp. 

 The tail is very long, flattened at the sides, and furnished 

 with upright process with a saw-like edge, formed by the 

 union of two crests that proceed from the middle of the 

 back. The crocodile when young, is so small and weak as 

 to be quite harmless, but when arrived at its maturity, it 

 is the object of great terror ; it lies in wait on the banks 

 of rivers, whence it snatches away dogs and other animals, 

 swallowing them instantly and plunging into the water, to 

 await in some retired place till hunger again summons it 

 to the attack. The crocodiles deposit their eggs in the 

 sand or mud on or near the banks of rivers ; the young 

 when hatched, immediately proceed to the water, but 

 few escape the depredations of the ichneumnus bird and 

 other animals who prey upon tham. The eggs of the 

 crocodile of the Nile are not larger than those of a goose, 

 and the animal when first hatched, has a very large head. 

 The eggs are guarded by a calcareous shell placed over a 

 membrane. The eggs and flesh of the grown animal are 

 considered as delicacies by the African nations, The 



