CHAPTER IT. 



GAVIAL SHOOTING ON THE JUMNA. 



Afloat on the J^imna. — Character of the River. — Difficulties of Crocodile Shoot- 

 ing. — The Fatal Spot. — Prospects. — The Fun Begins. — Defeat through 

 Poor Shooting and Native Timidity. — An Harangue. — Swimming after a 

 Wounded Gavial. — Death of " Number One." — Another still Larger. — How 

 to Skeletonize a Gavial. — Mode of Skinning Described. — Birds of Prey. — 

 Crowds of Spectators. — Gavial Eggs. — A Model Crew. — Plucky Encounter 

 with a Wounded Gavial. — A Struggle at Close Quarters. — Our Plan of 

 Operations. — A Good Rifle. — Killing Gavials at Long Range. 



As ■we floated down the river, I began to realize that the task 

 which lay before me, to be accomphshed regardless of circumstances, 

 was no light one. The Jumna is a very crooked, muddy, swift, and 

 deep river, full of treacherous eddies and under-currents, but for- 

 tunately only about two hundred yards in average width at that 

 season. Usually the banks are low and covered with fields of wheat 

 and grain, to which every foot of fertile land is devoted, but in 

 many places the stream is hemmed in by perpendicular cHfifs of 

 hard clay, behind which are barren and rugged ravines. At each 

 bend in the river there was a wide sand-bar, often many acres in 

 extent. 



Previous experience had taught me the uselessness of shooting 

 crocodiles in the water, for a dead crocodile or alligator sinks to 

 the bottom like a stone, and is lost in a moment. If the water is 

 still, your victim will be found floating belly up at the end of two 

 days, but the skin will be a total loss, for the scales will slip off in 

 spite of aU that can be done. In rivers that are swift, deep, and 

 very muddy, like the Jumna at that season, it is simply impossible 

 to shoot crocodiles and get them unless they are lying out upon 

 the banks. Even then they must be hit hard in a vital spot, and 

 either killed stone-dead upon the instant, or stunned so effectu- 

 ally that they wiU not be able to recover and crawl into the water 

 before the hunter or an attendant has time to rush forward and 



