CROCODILES. 246 



let go his hold, hut plunged to the hottom of the river, chap. XIX 

 aad after drowning his victim, came to the surface and — 

 dragged the body to an island. 



The number of individuals who perish annually in Great 

 this manner is very great, especially in villages where 'it-s^'uctiTo- 

 the neighbouring grounds are inundated. The same 

 crocodiles remain long in the same places, and become 

 more daring from year to year, especially, as the Indians 

 assert, if they have once tasted human flesh. They 

 are not easily killed, as their skin is impenetrable, — 

 the throat and the space beneath the shoulder being the 

 only parts where a ball or spear can enter. The natives 

 catch them with large iron hooks baited with meat, and 

 attached to a chain fastened to a tree. After the ani- 

 mal has struggled for a considerable time, they attack it 

 with lances. 



Affecting examples are related of the intrepidity of intrepidity 

 African slaves in attempting to rescue their masters from of Africans 

 the jaws of these voracious reptiles. Not many years 

 ago, in the Llanos of Calabozo, a negro, attracted by the 

 cries of his owner, armed himself with a long knife, and 

 plunging into the river, forced the animal, by scooping 

 out its eyes, to leave its prey and take to flight. The 

 natives being daily exposed to similar dangers think 

 little of them. They observe the manners of the croco- 

 dile as the torero studies those of the bull ; and quietly 

 calculate the motions of the enemy, its means of attack, 

 and the degree of its audacity. 



The general nature of the vast regions bordering on guramary. 

 the Orinoco may be sufficiently learned from the above 

 condensed narrative ; and we think it unnecessary to 

 follow our learned author through his description of 

 that portion of the river which extends from Angostura 

 to its mouths, especially as it is not founded on personal 

 observation. 



