THE CROCODILE. 



397 



ture as formidable as itself, and meets with a 

 most desperate resistance. We are told of 

 frequent combats between the crocodile and 

 the tiger. All creatures of the tiger kind are 

 continually oppressed by a parching thirst, 

 that keeps them in the vicinity of great rivers, 

 whither they descend to drink very frequent- 

 ly. It is upon these occasions that they are 

 seized by the crocodile ; and they die not un- 

 revenged. The instant they are seized upon, 

 they turn with the greatest agility, and force 

 their claws into the crocodile's eyes, while he 

 plunges with his fierce antagonist into the 

 river. There they continue to struggle for 

 some time, till at last the tiger is drowned. 



In this manner the crocodile seizes and de- 

 stroys all animals, and is equally dreaded by 

 all. There is no animal but man alone that 

 can combat it with success. We are assured 

 by Labat, that a negro, with no other weapons 

 than a knife in his right hand, and his left arm 

 wrapped round with a cow-hide, ventures 

 boldly to attack this animal in his own ele- 

 ment. As soon as he approaches the croco- 

 dile, he presents his left arm, which the ani- 

 mal swallows most greedily ; but sticking in 

 his throat, the negro has time to give it seve- 

 ral stabs under the throat ; and the water also 

 getting in at the mouth, which is held invo- 

 luntarily open, the creature is soon bloated up 

 as big as a tun, and expires. 



To us who live at a distance from the ra- 

 pacity of these animals, these stories appear 

 strange, and yet most probably are true. 

 From not having seen any thing so formida- 

 ble or bold in the circle of our own experience, 

 we are not to determine upon the wonderful 

 transactions in distant climates. It is proba- 

 ble that these, and a number of more dreadful 

 encounters, happen every day among those 

 forests and in those rivers where the most for- 

 midable animals are known to reside ; where 

 the elephant and rhinoceros, the tiger and the 

 hippopotamus, the shark and the crocodile, 

 have frequent opportunities of meeting, and 

 every day of renewing their engagements. 



Whatever be the truth of these accounts, 

 certain it is that crocodiles are taken by the 

 Siamese in great abundance. The natives of 

 that empire seem particularly fond of the cap- 

 ture of all the great animals with which their 

 country abounds. We have already seen 

 their success in taking and taming the ele- 

 phant ; nor are they less powerful in exerting 

 their dominion over the crocodile. The man- 

 ner of taking it in Siam,is by throwing three 

 or four strong nets across a river, at proper 

 distances from each other ; so that if the ani- 

 mal breaks through the first, it may be caught 

 by one of the rest. When it is first taken, 

 it employs the tail, which is the grand instru- 

 ment of strength, with great force ; but after 



many unsuccessful struggles, the animal's 

 strength is at last exhausted. Then the na- 

 tives approach their prisoner in boats, and 

 pierce him with their weapons in the most 

 tender parts, till he is weakeneU by the loss of 

 blood. When he has done stirring, they be- 

 gin by tying up his mouth, and with the same 

 cord they fasten his head to his tail, which 

 last they bend back like a bow. However, 

 they are not yet perfectly secure from his 

 fury; but, for their greater safety, they tie his 

 fore-feet, as well as those behind, to the top 

 of his back. These precautions are not use- 

 less : for if they were to omit them, the croco- 

 dile would soon recover strength enough to do 

 a great deal of mischief. 



The crocodile, thus brought into subjection, 

 or bred up young, is used to divert and enter- 

 tain the great men of the East. It is often 

 managed like a horse ; a curb is put into his 

 mouth, and the rider directs it as he thinks 

 proper. Though awkwardly formed, it does 

 not fail to proceed with some degree of swift- 

 ness; and it is thought to move as fast as some 

 of the most unwieldly of our own animals, the 

 hog or the cow. 1 Some, indeed, assert, that 

 no animal could escape it, but for its difficulty 

 in turning ; but to this resource we could wish 

 none would trust who are so unhappy as to 

 find themselves in danger. 



Along the rivers of Africa this animal is 

 sometimes taken in the same manner as the 

 shark. Several Europeans go together in a 

 large boat, and throw out a piece of beef upon 

 a hook and strong fortified line, which the 

 crocodile seizing and swallowing, is drawn 

 along, floundering and struggling until its 

 strength is quite exhausted, when it is pierced 

 in the belly, which is its tenderest part ; and 

 thus, after numberless wounds, is drawn 

 ashore. In this part of the world also, as well 

 as at Siam, the crocodile makes an object of 

 savage pomp near the palaces of their mo- 

 narchs. Philips informs us that at Sabi, on 

 the slave coast, there are two pools of water, 

 near the royal palace, where crocodiles are 

 bred, as we breed carp in our ponds in Eu- 

 rope. 



Hitherto I have been describing the croco- 

 dile as it is found in unpeopled countries, and 



1 Waterton, in his interesting Wanderings in South 

 America, gives an account of a ride he had on a croco- 

 dile's back. He and his Indians having secured a mon- 

 ster of the Essequibo, by a baited hook fastened to a 

 Jong rope, " they pulled the cayman," as he describes 

 (p. 231), " within two yards of me. I saw he was in a 

 state of fear and perturbation; I instantly dropped the 

 mast, sprung up, and jumped on his back, turning half 

 round as I vaulted, so that I gained my seat with my 

 face in a right position. I immediately seized his fore 

 legs and by main forco twisted on his back : thus they 

 served me for a bridle."- This was at first laughed at as 

 incredible, but it is now known to be a feat of not unus- 

 ual occurrence. 



