30 THE INDIAN CROCODILE. 



a kind of harpoon is employed, is described by Dr. Ruppell : " The most favourable 

 season is either the winter, when the animal usually sleeps on sand-banks, luxuriating in 

 the rays of the sun, or the spring, after the pairing time, when the female regularly 

 watches the sand islands where she has buried her eggs. The native finds out the place, 

 and on the south side of it, that is, to the leeward, he digs a hole in the sand, throwing up 

 the earth to the side which he expects the animal to take. Then he conceals himself, and 

 the Crocodile, should it fail to observe him, comes to the accustomed spot and soon falls 

 asleep. 



The huntsman then darts his harpoon with all his force at the animal, for in order 

 that its stroke may be successful, the iron ought to penetrate to the depth of at least four 

 inches, in order that the barb may be fixed firmly in the flesh. The Crocodile, on being 

 wounded, rushes into the water, and the huntsman retreats into a canoe, with which 

 a companion hastens to his assistance. A piece of wood, attached to the harpoon by 

 a long cord, swims on the water, and shows the direction in which the Crocodile is 

 moving. The huntsmen, pulling at this rope, drag the beast to the siirface of the water, 

 where it is again pierced by a second harpoon. . . . 



When the animal is struck, it by no means remains inactive ; on the contrary, it 

 lashes instantly with its tail, and endeavours to bite the rope asunder. To prevent this, 

 the rope is made of about thirty separate slender lines, not twisted together, but merely 

 placed in juxtaposition, and bound round at intervals of every two feet. The thin lines 

 get between the teeth or become entangled about them." 



In spite of the great strength of the reptile, two men can drag a tolerably large one out 

 of the water, tie up his mouth, twist his legs over his back, and kill him by driving 

 a sharp steel spike into the spinal cord just at the back of the skull. 



There are many other modes of capturing and killing the Crocodile, such as a hook 

 baited with meat, to which the voracious reptiles are attracted by the cries of a pig, which 

 is pulLJ by the tail or otherwise maltreated, for the purpose of eliciting those ear-piercing 

 yells which aggrieved swine always produce. The yelping of a dog answers the same 

 purpose, and is used in the same manner. In some cases the negroes are bold enough to 

 engage the Crocodile in its own element, and to attack it with a long knife, which they 

 plunge into the belly. 



The eggs of the Crocodile are about as large as those of the goose, and many in 

 number, so that these terrible reptiles would overrun the country, were they not persecuted 

 in the earliest stages by many creatures, who discover and eat the eggs almost as soon as 

 they are laid. It is curious that the Crocodile is attended by a bird which warns it of 

 danger, just as the rhinoceros has its winged attendant, and the shark its pilot fish. The 

 Crocodile bird is popularly called the ziczac, from its peculiar cry. 



SEVERAL other species of Crocodiles are known, among which two species are deserving 

 of a short notice, namely, the INDIAN CKOCODILE (Crocodtlus porosus), and the AMERICAN 

 CROCODILE (Crocodilus Americdnus). As the name of alligator is popularly given to 

 these and other reptiles, there is great confusion respecting the precise animal which is 

 under discussion. 



The Indian Crocodile, as its name imports, is an Asiatic species, and is found largely 

 in India. It is sometimes called the DOUBLE-CRESTED CROCODILE, because the head is 

 furnished with two long ridges extending from the front of the eye over the upper jaw. 

 This species is common in Ceylon, and literally swarms in the still waters and tanks, 

 though it is but rarely found in rapid streams, and never except in the low lands, the hill 

 marshes being free from these pests. Respecting this animal, Sir E. Tennent writes as 

 follows : 



" The species which inhabit the fresh water is essentially cowardly in its instinct, 

 and hastens to conceal itself on the approach of man. A gentleman who told me the 

 circumstance, when riding in the jungle, overtook a Crocodile evidently roaming in search 

 of water. It fled to a shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and thrusting its head into 

 the mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound confidence of perfect 

 concealment. 



