CROCODILIDAE 457 



it is essentially cowardly in its instincts, and hastens to conceal 

 itself on the approach of man. One of these creatures, which 

 was overtaken in the jungle by a gentleman riding on horseback, 

 fled to a shallow pool, and thrusting its head into the mud till 

 it covered up its eyes, remained motionless, in profound con- 

 fidence of perfect concealment. 



" There is a popular belief that the crocodile is exceedingly 

 sensitive to tickling, and that it will relax its hold of a man if 

 he can only contrive to reach and rub with his hand the softer 

 parts of its under side. An incident of some reality in this 

 piece of folk-lore came under my own observation. One morning 

 . . we came suddenly upon a crocodile asleep under some bushes 

 of the buffalo-thorn, several hundred yards from the water. The 

 terror of the poor wretch was extreme when it awoke and found 

 itself discovered and completely surrounded. It was a hideous 

 creature, upwards of 10 feet long. It started to its feet 



and turned round in a circle, hissing and clanking its bony 

 jaws, with its ugly green eye intently fixed upon us. On being 

 struck with a stick, it lay perfectly quiet and apparently dead. 

 Presently it looked cunningly round, and made a rush towards 

 the water, but on a second blow it lay again motionless and 

 feigning death. We tried to rouse it, but without effect ; pulled 

 its tail, slapped its back, struck its hard scales, and teased it in 

 every way, but all in vain ; nothing would induce it to move 

 till, accidentally, my son, then a boy of twelve years old, tickled 

 it gently imder the arm, and in an instant it drew the limb close 

 to its side and turned to avoid a repetition of the experiment. 

 Again it was touched under the other arm, and the same emotion 

 was exhibited, the great monster twisting about like an infant to 

 avoid being tickled." 



In the dry season, when the tanks become exhausted, the 

 Marsh Crocodiles have occasionally been encountered in the 

 jungle, wandering in search of water. During • a severe drought, 

 in 1844, they deserted a tank near Kornegalle, and traversed 

 the town during the night, on their way to another reservoir in 

 the suburb ; two or three fell into the wells ; others, in their 

 trepidation, laid eggs in the street, and some were found en- 

 tangled in garden fences and killed. 



Generally, however, during the extreme drought, when un- 

 able to procure their ordinary food from the drying up of the 



