44 WANDERINGS OF A 



river Jordan." * The other spring gushes from under a bed of 

 limestone, containing numbers of fossils, chiefly coral, and 

 other marine zoophites. We had a refreshing bathe in a re- 

 servoir close by ; the temperature, though not so high as the 

 last, was stiU warm and pleasant. I should be sorry, how- 

 ever, to repeat the experiment, not from the chances of meet- 

 ing with a crocodile (for, I believe, the Fakirs of the temple 

 guard well against such accidents j, but from the circumstance 

 that (as is generally the case aU over the East), lepers, and per- 

 sons affected with loathsome diseases, repair to such localities. 



The crocodiles dig deep in the sand, under the neighbour- 

 ing date-trees, and there deposit their eggs. Quantities of 

 deciduous teeth, of various sizes, were strewn along the 

 slimy sides of the pond. 



Strangers are expected to stand treat, not only by the 

 Fakirs and natives, who gain a livelihood by hanging about 

 the pond and showing the monsters, but even the crocodiles 

 themselves seem to anticipate a feast, and on the arrival of a 

 party come out in unusual numbers. Accordingly, we had 

 a goat slaughtered, during which operation the brutes seemed 

 to rouse themselves, as if preparing for a rush. Then our 

 guide, taking piece after piece of the flesh, dashed it on the 

 bank, uttering a low growling sound, at which the whole 

 tank became in motion, and crocodiles, of whose existence we 

 had been before ignorant, splashed through the shallow 

 water, struggling which should seize the prize. The shore 

 was literally covered with scaly monsters, snapping their 

 jaws at one another. 



They seize their food with the side of the mouth, and toss 

 the head backward, in order that it may fall into the throat. 



A few were observed to bolt their portion on shore after 



* The tcmperatuie of the water iii the lade was 127° Fahr. 



