284 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER CH. 



wrest her from the reptile's grasp. An awful tug- 

 of-war now ensued, and in the struggle, the child, 

 which the poor woman was carrying tied to her 

 back, fell into the water. Like a flash, the 

 crocodile let go his hold upon the woman's hand, 

 seized the child in his jaws and disappeared, and 

 the dark, swift waters of the Shire mercifully hid 

 the remainder of the tragedy from the distraught 

 mother's eyes. 



Hardly had this awful drama been concluded, 

 when one of the villagers, who at times suffered 

 from fits of dementia and had, on such occasions, 

 to be kept under constraint, appeared on the scene. 

 Brandishing a spear above his head, he kept calling 

 out, ' Where is the crocodile ? Where is the 

 crocodile ? ' and before any of his fellows could 

 restrain him, he had rushed headlong into the river. 

 In a moment, a crocodile seized him by the waist, 

 another by the head and shoulders, and a terrible 

 struggle ensued, crocodiles rushing from all sides, as 

 if eager for the fray the very water seemed to 

 seethe with them. The native fought as only a 

 .madman can fight, but, naturally, such a conflict 

 was bound to be brief, and when I arrived on the 

 actual scene it was difficult to distinguish man 

 from beast. Firing quickly, I managed to kill 

 several of the brutes, but could not prevent the 

 others from dragging the poor fellow under water 



