TRUE CROCODILES. 



2 5 



crocodile was specially reverenced were Thebes and the shores of Lake Moeris, as 

 well as Ombi, near Syene. At Thebes a crocodile was reared from youth in the 

 temple, where it was fed with sacred food, adorned with rings and bangles, and 

 worshipped with divine honours ; while after death its mummified body was care- 

 fully preserved in the catacombs, where hundreds of embalmed crocodiles are still 

 to be found. Something analogous to this Egyptian veneration for the crocodile 

 is to be met with in other countries. Leith-Adams tells us that the Indian 

 crocodile is reclaimed by certain religious sects in India, being rendered so tame 

 that it will leave its pond to feed out of its keeper's hand ; while Mrs. R. B. Lee 

 relates that at Dix Cove, on the north-western coast of Africa, a pair of tame 

 crocodiles were kept in a pond by priests, dressed in white garments, who fed their 

 charges with snow-white fowls. 



In the Upper Nile the favourite haunts of the crocodiles are sandbanks, 

 situated in parts of the river where the current is not too strong. There they 

 may be seen at all hours of the day sleeping with widely opened mouths, in and 

 out of which the black-backed plover (as mentioned on p. 475 of the preceding 

 volume) walks with the utmost unconcern. According to Arab accounts, one and 

 the same crocodile has been known to haunt a single sandbank throughout the 

 term of a man's life ; thus leading to the conclusion that these creatures must enjoy 

 a long term of existence, during the whole of which they continue, like other 

 reptiles, to increase in size. In common with this feature of uninterrupted growth, 

 all crocodiles are also distinguished by their remarkable tenacity of life ; the shots 

 that prove instantaneously fatal being those that take effect either in the brain 

 itself or in the spinal cord of the neck. It is true indeed, that a shot through the 

 shoulder will ultimately cause death ; but it allows time for the animal to escape 

 into the water, where its body immediately sinks. To reach the brain, the 

 crocodile should be struck immediately behind the aperture of the ear. Although 

 it is commonly supposed that the bony armour of these reptiles is bullet-proof, this 

 is quite erroneous; if the plates are struck obliquely, the bullet will, however, 

 frequently ricochet. 



A remarkable instance of boldness and ferocity displayed by a crocodile of 

 'this species is narrated by a correspondent of the Times during a journey to 

 Mashonaland. On arriving one evening at the banks of the narrow but rocky 

 Tokwi River, a man named Williams rode in with the intention of crossing. 

 During the passage his horse was carried by the stream a few yards below the 

 landing-place, and just as he reached the opposite bank he was seized by the leg 

 by a crocodile, which dragged him from his horse into the stream. There the 

 reptile let go its hold, upon which the man managed to crawl on to a small island. 

 Immediately his companion rode in to his assistance, upon w r hich another very 

 large crocodile mounted up between him and his horse's neck, and then slipped 

 back, making a dreadful wound on his side and in the horse's neck with its claws 

 as it did so. The river seemed, indeed, to be absolutely swarming with crocodiles ; 

 and it was with the greatest difficulty that the unfortunate man Williams, who 

 ultimately died of his wounds, was brought to bank. 



The Siamese crocodile (C. siamensis\ inhabiting!; Siam, Cambodia, 

 Siam Crocodile. \ 



and Java, may be distinguished from the preceding species by the 



