CROCODILE. 



355 



:• shortest duration ; were its abode extended to the colder, it 

 ' would so easily be overcome by its enemies, that the race 

 would soon be extirpated. In North Carolina, which is 

 within 37° of the equator, these animals are said to make 

 large subaquatic burrows, entering two or three feet from 

 the surface, and ascending steep banks considerably above 

 it, where they pass the winter in a lethargic slumber. In 

 Louisiana, according to M. de la Condamine, imme- 

 diately on commencement of the colder season, thev re- 

 treat to the clayey bottom of marshes to become torpid, 

 though the cold is not so intense as to deprive their 

 limbs of flexibility. " The winter of that country not 

 being rigorous, and frequently interrupted by warm days, 

 these alternations occasion so many resurrections in the 

 crocodile : on some days it is only in a slight state of in- 

 sensibility : on others, the lethargy is so profound, that 

 it may be cut in pieces without testifying the smallest 

 sign of animation." The voice of the crocodile is a loud 

 hollow growling of the most terrific description, which 

 has been compared to the roaring of a bull ; and it is 

 principally exercised when the animal is enraged, or leaves 

 its subaquatic retreats in spring: thus Dr Brickell ob- 

 serves, " these monsters roar and make a most hideous 

 noise against bad weather, and before they come out of 

 their dens in the spring, I was very much frighted 

 by one of them in a creek near Bath Town, where these 

 animals are very plenty, which happened after this man- 

 ner : As I was walking near the creek side one evening, 

 not long after my arrival in those parts, on a sudden this 

 monster began to roar after such a dreadful manner, 

 that the very earth seemed to tremble where I stood. I 

 am not able to express the consternation I was in ; for I 

 am satisfied it gave me the greatest dread and surprise 

 I was ever in, never having heard so terrifying a noise 

 before. It continued thus roaring for eight or ten times 

 like a bittern, but if possible an hundred times louder, 

 which at first I imagined to be some diabolical spirit 

 breaking through the bowels of the earth; for in the fright 

 I was in I could think or imagine nothing else." 



The crocodile propagates by eggs, of very small di- 

 mensions compared with its own enormous size ; for they 

 are little larger than those of a goose. Like many ani- 

 mals noxious to the more estimable parts of the creation, 

 !t is prolific, though the precise extent of its fecundity, 

 except in a single species, is not ascertained. Some na- 

 turalists affirm that it lays an hundred eggs in a season, 

 others fifty, and the Count La Cepede concludes, that 

 the number may be about seventy-two. Recent observa- 

 tions, however, by an intelligent investigator of the 

 whole history of this animal, prove that the crocodile of 

 St Domingo lays only twenty-eight. 



The males are infinitely more numerous than the fe- 

 males ; from which and other circumstances it is inferred, 

 that the crocodile is polygamous. Fierce combats fur the 

 possession of the females take place in the water during 

 the breeding season, terrifying all the surrounding ani- 

 mals to flight; and the male, in displaying more than 

 ordinary agility, announces his attachment by a horrible 

 growling. 



The female crocodile of St Domingo scrapes a round 

 cavity in the earth, by means of her feet and snout, in 

 which twenty-eight eggs are deposited, in circular ar- 

 rangement, and all in such a manner as not to touch 

 each other. They are laid in successive rows, the lower 

 being protected from the superincumbent one by a bed 

 of earth interposed. The nest is situated in a dry hil- 

 tock, and the earth also fashioned into a conical form, so 



that the eggs lie at the depth often inches from the surface. Crocodile. 

 This being done, the mother abandons them to be hatch- "• "Y^*** 

 ed by the sun : yet instinct prompts her frequently to re- 

 visit the spot, as the term of exclusion approaches. She 

 then testifies uncommon agitation, roaming about the 

 place, and uttering a peculiar growling, as if to awaken 

 her hideous offspring to animation. The period of 

 maturity being at length attained, the nascent croco- 

 diles answer to her solicitude, by a kind of yelping like 

 puppies. A hollow murmur in return denotes her sa- 

 tisfaction ; and she hastens to scrape up the earth with 

 such anxiety, that several of the young are always crush- 

 ed under her unwieldy body. Having withdrawn them 

 from their nest, the mother leads them straightway to 

 the neighbouring water: but now her utmost vigilance is 

 required for their preservation ; for, unlike the instinct by 

 which she is animated, the male, silently approaching, 

 will frequently devour them before she is aware of her 

 loss. He perpetually seeks their destruction ; and the 

 watch of the female over her young is protracted for 

 three months from their origin. 



An opinion is prevalent, that the crocodile continues 

 growing during its whole existence, that it lives to a great 

 age, and that the utmost limits of its size are scarcely 

 known ; whence, in addition to well-authenticated instan- 

 ces of some being twenty-five or thirty feet in length, 

 others are reputed to attain the enormous dimensions 

 of fifty feet. Though we are not enabled, from posi- 

 tive and conclusive evidence, either to corroborate or 

 controvert these facts, the observations of the naturalist 

 already cited, throw considerable light upon the sub- 

 ject. Where animals live in a state of uninterrupted war- 

 fare, we are aware that there is little probability of their 

 either attaining their extreme dimensions, or the utmost 

 duration of life; and with respect to the latter, we are 

 inclined to ascribe a much longer period to those that 

 dwell in the waters than is usually allowed. The croco- 

 dile of the Nile, banished to the most southern parts of 

 Egypt, is permitted to live undisturbed., and there it is uni- 

 versally admitted to increase to the largest size, far ex- 

 ceeding what is seen in other countries. But inferences 

 may pa-haps be made from the progressive growth of the 

 crocodile of St Domingo. 



This species is nine inches and a half in length at the 

 moment it leaves the egg, and at one year old is two 

 feet long. Its length is doubled in three years more : 

 and at eight years it is six feet seven inches : at sixteea 

 years old, it is twelve feet and a half in length ; and at 

 twenty it is sixteen and a half. It now ceases to grow, 

 and in two years more exhibits all the marks of old 

 age. The males begin to breed at the age of ten, and 

 the females when eight or nine ; but the latter do not 

 continue propagating above five years. 



Were not the fecundity of the more powerful and de- 

 structive animals repressed either by the attack of open 

 enemies, or their own liability to perish, they would 

 speedily overrun the earth. It is thus that almost all are 

 confined v/ithin moderate bounds; that destruction is 

 ever commensurate with multiplication, and sometimes 

 by its preponderance entire species become extinct. Ma- 

 ny animals have inhabited this island, of which there 

 have only been fossil remains for ages ; and record has t 



preserved the peiiod when the last of a noxious race was 

 destroyed. In certain places once infested by the croco- 

 dile, it is now totally extirpated, and in others its ap- 

 pearance is rare. In its earliest stage, we have seen that 

 it is liable to perish, either from being crushed to death 



