GARIALS. 



29 



taking up its position in a deep pool protected by an overhanging bank or rock, 



and thence sallying forth on its prey, which consists chiefly of fish, frogs, and 



aquatic reptiles. The eggs are laid on the bank, where, unlike those of most other 



members of the family, they are carefully covered with leaves and herbage. Shy 



and timid in its disposition, this crocodile is often captured by the natives for the 



sake of its flesh ; which, like that of many of its allies in other regions, is much 



esteemed as food. While very abundant in the fresh waters of the interior, this 



species likewise haunts the salt-water lagoons of the Guinea Coast; and in the 



delta of the Cameruns may be observed lying on the sandbanks bordering the 



mangrove swamps, from which, on the approach of a boat, it darts into the water 



with surprising celerity. There it often pulls down herons and such other aquatic 



birds as may be standing or swimming in the water, sailing up to them with the 



silence of a large fish, to which, when in the water, it presents a considerable 



resemblance. As in the estuarine and Nile crocodiles, in the adult of this species 



the second tooth in the fore jawbone, or premaxilla, disappears, leaving only four 



in place of the normal five on each side. 



With the very long and slender-snouted crocodile from Borneo, 

 Schlegel's Garial. * to 



commonly known as Schlegel's garial (Rhynchosuchus schlegeli), we 



come to the first of two genera, each represented by a single existing Oriental 

 species, which differ very remarkably from any of those yet noticed. In both 

 these forms the snout is long and slender, with its teeth-bearing margins nearly 

 straight, instead of being thrown into more or less well-marked festoons ; while 

 the nasal bones never extend forwards to reach the aperture of the nostrils, from 

 which they are separated by a considerable interval. Moreover, the bony union 

 between the two branches of the lower jaw is of great length, extending at least 

 as far back as the fifteenth tooth ; and including a bone which in the other 

 crocodiles remains entirely separate from the symphysis. In neither do the 

 teeth attain the large dimensions characteristic of many other members of the 

 family. 



Schlegel's garial has the shorter snout of the two, its length not exceeding 

 three and a half times its basal width ; but it is especially distinguished by the 

 circumstance that the nasal bones extend forwards to articulate with the anterior 

 jawbones, or premaxillse. The teeth are twenty or twenty-one in number on each 

 side of the upper jaw, and eighteen or nineteen in the lower ; those on the sides of 

 the latter being received in pits between the upper ones, and the first, fourth, and 

 ninth lower teeth being enlarged. The bony plates on the neck and back form a 

 continuous shield consisting of four longitudinal, and twenty -two transverse rows ; 

 and while the fore-toes are webbed at the base, the outer ones of the hind-feet have 

 larger webs. In colour, Schlegel's garial is olive above, with dark spots or bars ; 

 while its length may be 12 or 14 feet. In habits this species is probably very 

 similar to the Indian garial. It is important to notice that several fossil repre- 

 sentatives of this genus occur in the Tertiary deposits of Europe, while it is not 

 improbable that the genus is also represented in the underlying Cretaceous rocks. 

 All this is exactly in harmony with what we should naturally have expected to be 

 the case, seeing that Schlegel's garial, like the true garial, is evidently a very 

 generalised member of the family. 



