SECOND EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 201 



buck I fired. There was a great swirl in the 

 water, and I thought that I had hit him ; but 

 we found afterwards that, in spite of the shot, 

 the beast had lashed at the buck with his tail 

 and had taken a piece of the skin off. Then, 

 on the other side of the river, a crocodile's eye 

 and part of the head appeared above the surface 

 in deep water. I fired at this, but the width of 

 the river at this point was considerable, and I 

 missed. At the time I thought it was a second 

 crocodile, but it was evidently the same one. 



By this time the buck had collapsed, and, after 

 firing another shot or two into the water as a 

 precaution, I sent men in, and they dragged the 

 carcase out. I cut off the head, and made the 

 natives drag the body high up the bank so that 

 it might be safe from attack, and then went on 

 to the camp, which was not far distant. On 

 arrival there, I sent back some men to fetch 

 the meat, and after some time they returned 

 and reported that the crocodile had come out 

 of the river and devoured the buck. Presumably 

 he had merely dragged the body into the water 

 and hidden it in some hole. 



Victory therefore rested with the crocodile ; but 

 I had my revenge. When we reached the camp 

 where this had occurred, on our return journey 

 from the Lorian, I went out after lunch in the 

 heat of the day in the hope of seeing the crocodile, 

 and found him lying asleep, with his mouth wide 

 open, on the opposite side of the river. A well- 

 placed shot at the base of the neck stretched him 

 lifeless. He was less than 10 feet long, but the 

 girth was 4^ feet. This was the largest crocodile 



