48 History of Nature. [BooK VIII. 



and therefore when the Dolphins pass into the River Nile, 

 where the Crocodiles assume to be Kings, as if the River 

 were their peculiar Property, and therefore drive them away 

 and prevent them from taking Food : seeing themselves to 

 be otherwise inferior to the Crocodiles in Strength, but 

 being armed on the Back with a Fin as Sharp as a Knife, 

 they manage to destroy them by Craft. For all Creatures 

 are herein very skilful, and know not only their own 

 Advantages, but also what may hurt their Enemies. They 

 know what offensive Weapons they have, and the fit Occa- 

 sions of using them ; as also the weak Parts of those opposed 

 to them. The Skin of the Crocodile's Belly is thin and 

 soft; and therefore the Dolphins, 1 as if afraid of them, dive 

 under Water, and getting beneath until they have gotten 

 under his Vent, rip it up with this sharp Spine. Also, 

 there is a Kind of People that bear a Hatred to the Croco- 

 dile, and they are called Tentyrites, from an Island of the 

 Nile which they inhabit. These Men are of small Stature, 

 but when opposed against the Crocodiles, and then only, it is 

 wonderful to see how resolute they are. Indeed this Cro- 

 codile is a terrible Beast to them who fly from him ; but on 

 the other Hand he runneth away from such as pursue him. 

 Now, these People are the only Men that dare to approach 

 right in front of him. They will even swim into the River 

 after them, and mount upon their Backs, 2 and sit on them 



1 Lib. ix. c. 8. Wern. Club. 



2 The exploits of these Tentyrites have not been unmatched in modern 

 times. A ride on the back of a crocodile does not seem a very tempting 

 thing ; but that it has long been occasionally performed in the process of 

 killing these monsters is shewn by Dr. Pocock, in his " Observations on 

 Egypt," where he says, " They make some animal cry at a distance from 

 the river, and when the crocodile comes out they thrust a spear into his 

 body, to which a rope is tied : they then let him go into the water to 

 spend himself, and afterwards drawing him out, run a pole into his 

 mouth, and, jumping on his back, tie his jaws together." (Vol. i. p. 203.) 

 Mr. Waterton, in his "Wanderings in South America," tells us he per- 

 formed the same extraordinary feat. His Indian assistants having 

 secured a monster of the Essequibo, by a baited hook fastened to a long 

 pole, "they pulled the cayman," as he describes (p. 231,) "within two 



