From Elephant Khedder to Crocodile Tank 381 



and stopped, then began a wriggling, zigzag course, 

 doing his best to get his unwieldy head round and 

 bite his rider. The boy promptly rammed the prongs 

 of the steel fork well into the crocodile's neck, and 

 set him going again. Just as he was about to plunge 

 into the water, his jockey sprang actively up, leapt 

 on one side, and just escaping a terrific lash from the 

 great tail, ran back safely to the wall, having a 

 second time been saved from a fate which he almost 

 deserved. 



Buffaloes have never been attacked by the inhabitants 

 of this tank, but any other animals are seized at once. 

 Not that buffaloes are by any means exempt, for I 

 remember the case of a poor bullock which was seized 

 by a large mugger when it was in the act of drinking, 

 and dragged into deep water. The struggling beast 

 was a terrible sight to see ; its head was held firmly 

 under water, and it gradually disappeared until only 

 its tail, which twisted and writhed convulsively in the 

 air like a snake, was left above the surface. A few 

 minutes, and the whole body floated drowned ; while 

 at its side a long snout and a pair of malicious, 

 triumphant eyes obtruded themselves above the 

 surface. 



In the dry season muggers bury themselves in the 

 mud and remain dormant until the return of moister 

 conditions. They can exist thus without food for many 

 months ; and there was a well-known case of a sahib 

 who, camping out one night upon a little island in the 

 Ganges, was disturbed by a strange motion of the 



