34 , THE ANIMALS OF NORTHERN AFRICA 



In the following passage an English traveller describes crocodile-hunting on 

 the Setit : — A crocodile was observed lying on a sand-bank close to a bed of reeds, 

 whereupon two natives who had found out the position of the reptile went a short 

 way up the river, and swam across harpoon in hand. On reaching the opposite 

 shore, they waded and swam down to the spot where the crocodile lay. Where 

 the high bank did not afford shelter and they found water enough, they swam 

 softly with the current, and crept over the shallow places, until they reached the 

 reeds on the other side of which the reptile lay asleep. Standing in the water 

 up to the chest, they slowly advanced through the reeds towards their prey, 

 holding up their harpoons, in order to be able to hurl them when necessary. When 

 scarcely eight paces away they were scented by the reptile, which dropped into 

 the water, carrying with it the harpoons. The iron head forthwith became 

 detached from the bamboo-shaft and remained fast in the flesh of the crocodile ; 

 while the float, which was made of light wood, swam on the surface and indicated 

 the course which the reptile, now left to itself, took beneath the water. 



On the sand-spits of the Blue Nile a dozen or more crocodiles may often be 

 seen basking in the sun ; and in West Africa, more than a couple of hundred are 

 said to have been seen at a time. The female is reported to lay about a score of 

 eggs, two or three times a year, the first clutch being deposited at the beginning 

 of summer. These are buried in the mud on the shore, where they are hatched by 

 the heat of the sun. A musky fat secreted by certain glands in the skin of the 

 crocodile is used by the natives as a pomade. The skin of the back, which is 

 studded with bony plates, is used for shields, the thinner skin of the under-parts 

 is made into sandals and dagger-cases, the teeth are preserved as ornaments, and 

 the flesh, which is stated to bear a certain resemblance to that of sturgeon, is eaten 

 by some of the North African natives. 



It is very difficult to obtain trustworthy information with regard to the 

 maximum dimensions of crocodiles of any kind, and this is more especially so in 

 the case of Grocodilus niloticus. Those who shoot these reptiles seldom take the 

 trouble to measure such as are brought to land. That Indian crocodiles commonly 

 attain a length of from 15 to 20 feet is well known, while, as stated on page 207 

 of the second volume, they sometimes grow to a much greater size. It has been 

 stated, for instance, that both of the two Indian species, C. 20orosus and C. palustris, 

 may grow to 30 feet, and there is in the British Museum a skull of the first-named 

 species killed in Bengal in 1840, which was stated by the donor to have belonged to 

 a reptile measuring 33 feet in length. On the other hand, there does not appear to 

 be any record of the African crocodile attaining anything approaching such dimen- 

 sions. The largest specimen of this species in the British Museum measures just 

 under 15 feet (44 metres) in length ; and in Madagascar the largest specimen 

 hitherto measured was 13 feet long. It appears, indeed, that there is no authentic 

 record of any specimen exceeding 17 feet in length, and in South Africa a 13-foot 

 crocodile is regarded as a large one. So far as can be ascertained there appears to 

 be no record of an African crocodile 22 feet in length. 



„ . One of the enemies of the crocodile is the large North African 



Monitor. ° . . 



lizard generally known to the English in the country as the iguana, 

 but termed by naturalists the Egyptian monitor (Var anus niloticus). Attaining 



