52 TWO YEARS IX THE JUNGLE. 



of the day until almost sunset.* Individuals have their favorite 

 haunts, and unless disturbed the same crocodile will return dav 

 after day to the same sand-bank, as I have plainly seen by observing 

 those which wei-e peculiarly marked. Several times I have seen 

 gavials swimming leisurely up and down the river over the same 

 course for an hour at a time, apparently enjoying a promenade. 

 Generally we found them upon the shore in groups of four to six, 

 but of course many solitary individuals were seen. As a rule they 

 were very shy, but several times after missing a certain animal of a 

 group, I have seen it take to the water at the sound of the rifle, but 

 almost immediately come out again, if we remained quietly hidden. 

 As an instance of their great numbers, I find it recorded in my 

 note-book that in six hours we once counted twenty-four gavials 

 lying upon the sand-banks. Once, while hidden behind a small 

 bush at the base of a clay cliff, with my rifle and field-glass in my 

 hand, I saw twelve gavials (not one of which was under ten feet in 

 length) crawl slowly out of the water, one after another, upon a 

 little isolated sand-bar which was no larger than a good-sized cro- 

 quet-ground. Such a mass-meeting of saurians I never saw before 

 nor since. But here let me caution the next hunter, or natvu'alist, 

 who may visit this locality, that in a few years' time conditions may 

 become so changed that not a dozen gavials will be found in that 

 particular spot, where in March, 1877, they existed in scores. And 

 furthermore, during the wet season when the river is high and wide, 

 it may be almost impossible to find gavials upon the banks in such 

 situations that they can be secured.f 



Although the largest of the twenty-six gavials I shot and secured 

 measured only twelve feet, we saw three or four individuals which 



* I attribute this to the coldness of the water, which is due to its snowy 

 sources, and also to its swiftness and strong undercurrents, which combine to 

 render life beneath its surface not entirely agreeable to a lazy, heat loving 

 animal. 



f In order to give an idea of the seasons in which gavials maj' be success- 

 fully hunted on the Ganges and Jumna, the following facts concerning the 

 rise and fall of the river may be useful. About May 1st, the snow water be- 

 gins to swell the river. The volume of this gradually increases until June 

 15th, when most of the sand-banks are covered. From the latter date until 

 October 1st, the river is frequently in high flood, shooting is practically im- 

 possible, and navigation is dangerous. After this the water falls steadily until 

 January 1st, and from this date until May, there is a minimum of water in the 

 river, e.Kcept during slight freshets caused by light rains in the lower Himalayas. 

 From April 15th to October 1st the heat is dangerous to European constitutions. 



