﻿Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Notices, 
  ^c. 
  471 
  

  

  of 
  Herodotus," 
  the 
  Saturday 
  Reviewer 
  writes 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  — 
  

   " 
  No 
  doubt, 
  until 
  Mr. 
  Cook 
  made 
  his 
  observation, 
  the 
  story 
  

   had 
  not 
  ' 
  been 
  confirmed 
  by 
  recent 
  observations 
  ' 
  ; 
  but 
  

   Giovanni 
  Leone, 
  perhaps 
  better 
  known 
  as 
  Leo 
  Africanus, 
  

   an 
  author 
  and 
  traveller, 
  who 
  lived 
  and 
  wrote 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  fifteenth 
  and 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  sixteenth 
  

   century 
  — 
  i. 
  e. 
  at 
  least 
  1300 
  years 
  after 
  yElian 
  — 
  and 
  whose 
  

   accounts 
  of 
  what 
  he 
  saw 
  are 
  singularly 
  devoid 
  of 
  fable, 
  tells 
  

   the 
  story 
  in 
  a 
  manner 
  which 
  makes 
  it 
  hard 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  he 
  

   was 
  not 
  relating 
  facts 
  which 
  actually 
  came 
  under 
  his 
  own 
  

   observation. 
  He 
  tells 
  us 
  — 
  we 
  quote 
  from 
  the 
  French 
  trans- 
  

   lation 
  of 
  his 
  'Description 
  of 
  Africa,' 
  published 
  in 
  1556 
  — 
  that 
  

   he 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  Nile, 
  ' 
  distant 
  de 
  Caire 
  environ 
  quatre 
  cens 
  

   mille,' 
  when 
  he 
  saw 
  several 
  crocodiles 
  upon 
  some 
  little 
  

   islands 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  ' 
  qui 
  estoyent 
  etendus 
  au 
  

   Soleil, 
  les 
  gueules 
  bees 
  ; 
  dans 
  lesquelles 
  aucuns 
  oysillons 
  de 
  

   blanc 
  panage, 
  & 
  grandeur 
  d^une 
  grive, 
  entroyeut 
  dedas, 
  la 
  

   ou 
  ayans 
  sejourne 
  quelque 
  espace 
  de 
  temps 
  s'en 
  retournoyent, 
  

   dressans 
  leur 
  vol 
  ailleurs. 
  Dont 
  estat 
  curieus 
  d'entendre 
  la 
  

   raison 
  de 
  cela, 
  je 
  m'eu 
  enquis, 
  & 
  me 
  fut 
  dit, 
  qu' 
  cntre 
  les 
  

   dens 
  du 
  crocodile 
  demeurent 
  quelques 
  files 
  de 
  chair, 
  ou 
  

   poisson 
  pendaus 
  ; 
  Icsquels 
  venans 
  a 
  se 
  putrifier, 
  se 
  conver- 
  

   tissent 
  en 
  vers, 
  qui 
  les 
  molestent 
  aucuuement, 
  & 
  estans 
  

   aperceus 
  remuer 
  par 
  ces 
  petits 
  oyseaus 
  volas, 
  viennent 
  a 
  

   entrer 
  dans 
  la 
  gueule 
  pour 
  les 
  mager, 
  ce 
  que 
  ayans 
  fait, 
  

   crocodile 
  ingrat 
  taclie 
  a 
  les 
  engloutir, 
  mais 
  se 
  sentant 
  pique 
  

   au 
  palais 
  d'une 
  dure 
  & 
  peignante 
  epine 
  (que 
  Toyseau 
  a 
  sur 
  

   le 
  soramet 
  de 
  la 
  tete) 
  il 
  est 
  cotraint 
  de 
  desserrer, 
  dounant 
  

   lieu 
  a 
  la 
  fuitte 
  de 
  Foyseau, 
  & 
  avenat 
  q 
  j'en 
  puissc 
  reeouvrer 
  

   un, 
  je 
  raconteray 
  cette 
  histoire 
  plus 
  surement, 
  & 
  a 
  la 
  verite." 
  

   Again, 
  Paul 
  Lucas, 
  who 
  wrote 
  in 
  1719, 
  though 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  

   an 
  exact 
  author 
  or 
  worthy 
  to 
  be 
  too 
  implicitly 
  believed, 
  

   distinctly 
  says 
  that 
  he 
  saw 
  close 
  to 
  his 
  boat 
  some 
  birds 
  ' 
  like 
  

   a 
  Lapwing, 
  and 
  near 
  it 
  in 
  bigness,' 
  which 
  went 
  'into 
  the 
  

  

  crocodiles' 
  mouths 
  or 
  throats, 
  and 
  after 
  they 
  had 
  

  

  stayed 
  a 
  little 
  while 
  the 
  crocodiles 
  shut 
  their 
  mouths, 
  and 
  

   opened 
  them 
  again 
  soon 
  after 
  to 
  let 
  them 
  go 
  out.' 
  He 
  was 
  

   told 
  by 
  the 
  people 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  in 
  question 
  ' 
  feed 
  themselves 
  

  

  