226 Crocodile spearing. Chapt. xvii. 



prow with a hog spear, start fair, and "off" for first spear. 

 As he sees the boats coming, down goes the crocodile, and 

 up stands the bamboo, more and more upright the deeper 

 he goes, so that the more he tries to avoid you, the more 

 conspicuous becomes his course. Follow him up, for if 

 the bamboo is a big one, as it should be, it wiirbe so 

 strongly buoyant that he must come to the top soon. 

 There now the bamboo is beginning to slope, showing 

 that he is coming to the surface. Now is your time for 

 a spear. But look out for his tail: — it is very powerful. 

 If he upsets you, he has big brothers about and they may 

 reverse the sport. 



What is the difference between a crocodile and an 

 alligator? Sir J. Emerson Tennent in his interesting 

 sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon makes it clear 

 enough. 



"The Portuguese in India, like the Spaniards in South 

 "America, affixed their name of lagarto to the huge rep- 

 tiles that infested the rivers and estuaries of both conti- 

 nents; and to the present day the Europeans in Ceylon 

 "apply the term alligator to what are in reality crocodiles, 

 "which literally swarm in the still waters and tanks in * 

 "the low country, but rarely frequent rapid streams, and 

 "have never been found in the marshes among the hills. 

 "The differences, however, between the two, when once 

 "ascertained, are sufficiently marked, to prevent their 

 "being afterwards confounded. The head of the alligator 

 "is broader and the snout less prolonged, and the canine 

 "teeth of the under jaw, instead of being received into 



