AFEW HINTS ON CROCODILE SHOOTING, 77 
rifle which has the qualifications of being cheap and nasty but very accurate and 
hard hitting is the -405 Winchester magazine rifle. This has an under lever action 
which is very bad, as you do a good deal of your shooting lying down and in 
that position you cannot conveniently open and close the breach, but with 
this rifle, if you get a well placed shot in, you seldom require another. 
The harpoon is a somewhat complicated affair. It consists of thres main 
purts : (2) a shaft twelve to fifteen feet long, bound with wire at the thick end 
to prevent it splitting ; (>) ten feet of stout cord about 4 inch diameter, fastened 
to the shaft and about 8 strands of Linch diameter cord 15 feet long each, attached 
to the loose end of the thick cord, uh other ends being attached - to the harpoon 
ring. This is to prevent the animal cutting the cord near to the harpoon, as 
occasionally happens if a single thick cord is used. These thin cords should be 
bound together, at about 18 inches interval to avoid getting them entangled ; 
(c) a barbed head with wide deep barbs made from 2 inch bar iron or 1 inch by 
2 inch flat iron, fitted into a wooden collar, and the end turned over to prevent 
it being pulled out. The sketch of the harpoon explains things better than 
words. This barbed head must always be kept sharp, and the point should be 
fairly obtuse so as not to get bent by striking against a hard part of the 
animal, 
This outfit is for a one man show. If there are two or more of a party, it 
is advisable for one to go on each side of the river, in which case you want 
an extra harpooner and axeman, if you would save time. 
The best time to plan your shoot is between December and February, before 
the hot weather begins. During these three months, besides being cool, snow-fed 
rivers such as the Kosi and its tributaries are at their lowest ebb, and the croco- 
diles have numerous banks to bask on. It is cold in the mornings and evenings, 
and warm all day, with the result that the animals are out from about 9 a.m. to 
4 p.m. You don’t need to get up before sunrise. You get up at a respectable 
hour, have your breakfast comfortably and then sally forth just in time to get 
the early crocs. As it gets hotter the animals come up earlier and earlier, and 
stay later and later, until when the weather gets really hot during the day 
they come up about sunrise and then go down again about 10 a.m., coming up 
