THE CROCODILE. 129 



THE CROCODILE 



Is one of the most terrible and mischievous animals, not only 

 of the lizard kind, but also of all those which Nature has pro- 

 duced ; fortunately, however, it is principally confined to those 

 regions where men are scarce, and the arts of civilization in a 

 great measure unknown. 



To observe this formidable creature invested with all its natural 

 terrors, grown to an enormous size, and propagated in surprising 

 numbers, we must visit the uninhabited regions of Africa and 

 America. In those vast rivers, which roll through extensive 

 and desolate countries, where cultivation and commerce have 

 never exerted their beneficial influence, and the most powerful 

 and ferocious animals exercise their strength and rapacity un- 

 controlled by man, the crocodile reigns in perfect security, ter- 

 rible to every living creature that enters the water, or approaches 

 its margin. 



Although this animal admits of several varieties, of which the 

 crocodile, properly so called, and the cayman, or alligator, ap- 

 pear to be the principal ; yet these distinctions seem to be made 

 rather by travellers than by Nature. The crocodile is, by them, 

 confined chiefly to the old, and the alligator to the new conti- 

 nent; but the distinction of form and colour is very trifling. All 

 the animals of this tribe agree in strength, size, and ferocity, 

 and are justly considered as objects of terror wherever they are 

 found. 



The crocodile frequently grows to the size of twenty feet in 

 length, and five feet in circumference. Some, it is said, have 

 been found of the length of thirty feet. The fore-legs have the 

 same parts and conformation as that of a man, each paw having 

 five fingers. The hind-legs, including the thigh and foot, are 

 about two feet two inches long. The hind-paw is about nine 

 inches long, divided into four toes, united by a membrane or 

 web, like those of a duck, and armed Avith large claws. The 

 head is long and flat, and the eyes are very small. It may be 

 observed, that the dimensions here given, are taken from one of 

 these animals which was dissected by the Jesuits at Siam, and 

 which was not one of the very largest size, as its whole length 

 did not exceed eighteen feet, and yet its jaws opened to the ter- 

 rible width of fifteen inches and a half; so that it was com- 

 pletely able to swallow a man. The Jesuits, by this dissection, 

 made the important discovery, that the accounts we often hear 

 of the crocodile being unable to turn itself readily, or to pursue 

 its prey otherwise than by a direct course, are not to be depend- 

 ed on for their accuracy ; for they found no less than sixty-two 

 joints in the back-bone, which, though very closely united 

 13* 



