294 CROCODILES 



in our canoe, for wife, nurse and little girls, while the little 

 boys, in their palanquin, went in another one with Mr Street 

 and Mr Briggs. 



The shores of the river are exceedingly pretty, although there 

 was nothing grand or striking. They are flat, but beautifully 

 wooded, the great bdrardta grass, with its light grey feathery 

 head of flowers, giving quite a character to the scenery. Islands 

 are numerous, some being mere sand-banks, but many covered 

 with trees and bush. We soon made acquaintance with the 

 crocodiles, for there was one basking in the sunshine on a sand- 

 bank just opposite our starting-place. We saw a good many 

 of them during the day, although not as many as other travellers 

 have observed, perhaps from twenty to thirty, and some of 

 them quite near enough to be seen very distinctly, Most of 

 them were light grey in colour, but others slaty, and others 

 again spotted with black ; they varied in length from seven 

 or eight to fourteen or fifteen feet. The head is small, and the 

 back and tail serrated like a great pit-saw. They were gener- 

 ally lying with the jaws wide open, and sometimes were near 

 enough to be splashed by the paddles as we passed them. The 

 heat on the river was much less than when travelling on the 

 land, or at Mevatanana ; a delightful breeze blew against us all 

 day, and we enjoyed the change immensely. 



The banks of the river, which was from half to three-quarters 

 of a mile wide, were only a few feet above the water, and from 

 them flew numbers of birds. Among these were many with 

 which we were familiar in the interior the pure white 

 lesser egret, varieties of heron, purple kingfishers, wild ducks 

 and wild geese, and many others. The Railovy or fork-tailed 

 shrike is one of the most widely distributed birds of the island, 

 and is very active and an excellent singer. Perched on a dead 

 branch, it keeps up a constant noise, its strong voice giving 

 forth several notes, which very much resemble that of an organ. 

 In the spots frequented by a large number of these shrikes, 

 each one reserves to itself a hunting-ground, in which according 

 to M. Pollen, he tolerates the presence of no other birds, even 

 of his own kind, not excepting those stronger than himself. 

 It is dark bluish-green in colour, with a long tail, forked at the 

 extremity. These western woods are fairly full of singing 

 birds, especially in the hot season, which was coming on at the 



