944, A JOURNEY UP THE RIVER CONGO. 
may be swept into the water by a sudden sweeping fling 
of it. I remember on the River Quanza, in Angola, 
meeting with an illustration of this. The river steamer 
on which I was travelling was moored close to the shore, 
and a plank laid just over the water between the deck and 
the river bank, over which the “ krumen ” went backwards 
and forwards with cargo. Towards dusk one of these 
niggers was crossing the plank with a load on his head, 
when a hitherto unseen crocodile whisked up his tail and 
swept the unhappy wretch into the water. He was re- 
covered, for the crocodile himself seemed rather frightened 
at his own boldness, and abandoned the man after a brief 
struggle; but the poor wretch had all his bowels crushed 
by one grip of the crocodile’s jaws, and barely lived to 
reach the shore. 
It is really true that the crocodile is accompanied and — 
‘ protected” by a little wading bird, which utters a shrill 
warning cry if its mailed friend, sleeping with a peaceful 
grin of satiety lurking about his cruel jaws, is menaced by 
approaching foes. This little bird, the spur-winged plover, 
Lobwanellus albiceps (known in Egypt as the zik-zak), lives 
on terms of the greatest intimacy with the crocodiles, and, 
when they lie basking on the sand-flats, the birds perch 
on their backs and hop freely about the recumbent 
monsters. What return they receive at the hands of their 
strange allies for the vigilant care they take of them 
when ashore I cannot say. It used to be supposed that 
the zik-zak plover was allowed the privilege of acting as 
the crocodile’s toothpick ; and other travellers, who thought 
this a somewhat repellent office, asserted that the bird 
merely removed the worms and leeches tbat crept into the — 
soft parts of the crocodile’s jaw. I can only say for my — 
part that, although the spur-winged plover is with the 
crocodile during ‘all the time it spends on land, I have 
never yet witnessed it taking a meal from out of those 
formidable jaws. 
Before I leave the crocodiles, I might mention that the 
ordinary and most common species is the common African — 
crocodile (Crocodilus vulgaris), but I have seen some — 
— ee. 
ir 
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