A Sea-Going Crocodile 



The Florida crocodile is known to science as Croco- 

 dilus acutus, and differs materially from the alligator 

 in appearance and in other respects. The principal or 

 most noticeable point is the extremely sharp nose and 

 sharper or more fang-like teeth. The crocodile is to 

 a certain extent marine, as we have seen, while it is 

 doubtful if the alligator ever ventures out to sea. 



The true crocodile is found in the island of Hayti, 

 though a different species, and in the swamps and 

 rivers constitutes an important feature of the island 

 life. Many cases are on record of their attacking 

 people. In one instance, a little girl, who had been 

 told that it was dangerous to go near the water after 

 dark, disobeyed the warning and was suddenly seized 

 as she was washing clothes and carried to the bottom, 

 her body being found the next day, partly devoured, 

 while two huge crocodiles were killed near by. 



The largest species found here were seen by Hum- 

 boldt, one measuring seventeen and a half feet, and 

 the other twenty-three feet in length. Such an animal 

 would indeed be a formidable antagonist. " In 

 attacking a person on dry land," writes an English 

 sportsman and naturalist, " they stand erect on the 

 four feet and leap bodily, arching the back like a cat at 

 every jump. A party of priests was out on a picnic 

 on this island, and one having strayed away, the 

 others went home without him. As he did not 

 appear, they returned to look for him, and found him 

 sitting astride the limb of a tree, a crocodile lying 



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