( 36 ) 
an " Ubique " bullet into him as he lay, and racked 
him fore and aft. Of courBe the shot had very little 
immediate efiecD oa the tongb brute, and he shuffled 
into the water at a tremendous rate. I then looked 
about among some trees with damp patches under- 
neath, and put up six or seven snipe ; I got shots at 
five and bagged two. Afterwards seeing no prospects of 
finding more birds, I started back towards the alaice on 
my way homewards. When going along the jungle path 
at the end of the tank I had a bit of luck, a jungle-fowl 
bolted across, and a quick shot knocked him over 
— another fine cock bird. 
Having crossed the shaice, I looked along the bund 
and espied a crocodile lying on the top of it, about 
three hundred yards off. Here was a chance for a 
stalk. Unfortunately, about 200 yards from the cro- 
codile, a big tree had fallen, blocking up the side 
of the bund farthest from the tank with a regular 
abatis. I could not go along the tank side of^the 
bund, as the crocodile had his head that way, nor 
could I get round the tree, a= there was the deep 
pool below the bund which I mentioned in the first 
part of thts letter. I, therefore, had to make my 
way inch by inch through the branches in deadly fear 
lest they sliould crack or rustle. At last 1 got through 
and the crocodile still sunned himself serenely un- 
conscious. The rest was easy and straightforward. 
The bund wan covered with short grass, 
and I made my way without difficulty 
to within fifty or sixty yards, when 
I crawled bit by bit on bands and knees until I was 
only thirty-five yards away. I then crept very 
gently up the side of the bund and raised myself 
little by little till I had a perfect broadside shot. 
My "Ubique" bullet went through the top of his 
head, and he shut his jaws, vehich were wide open 
when I fired, and lay motionless. To make sure 
he did not recover and walk away, I cut his throat, 
*nd then we went back to the P. W. D. bungalow. 
TWO COOLIES FETCHED IN THE CKOCODILE 
having lashed him with a rope to a suitable pole. 
They then deposited him, lashed as he was, in the 
■verandah of the bungalow. Three hours later, when 
there was no one in the bu-igalow except my old 
Tamil boy, the crocodile discovered that it was not 
Jead, and after granting and groaning proceeded to 
stroll about the verandah pole and all. As my boy 
was afriiid it would get back to the tank, he lashed 
the crocodile to one of the wooden verandah pillars. 
As the 12-bore "Ubique" bullet had inflicted a very 
severe wound to the top of the skull, and as the 
creature's throat was also out, I think we may 
pafely deduce that the crocodile is somewhat tena- 
cious of life. " Flbur-db-Lys." 
Colombo, 21st March. — Asian, May 22. 
THE CEYLON CROCODILE. 
My short stay in Ceylon has convinced me that 
excellent sport is to be had crocodile shooting. 
All the large tanks contain crocodiles, and 
though they may be easy to approach as com- 
Eared with deer, they are infinitely harder to 
ag. Unless a crocodile is hit in exactly the 
right place it invariably gets back to the water. 
Either it must be shot through the head or the 
spine shattered. I do not think the shoulder 
shot is to be depended upon except with a large 
calibre rifle. Crocodiles are loathsome reptiles, 
and one never feels any compunction in shooting 
them ; whereas 'ihe pathetic eyes of a wounded 
cheetah are a very pitiful sight. The more croco- 
diles that can be shot the better, and quite a soft- 
hearted man might take pleasure in slaughtering 
them at every opportunity. Many people when 
asked will tell you they hare shot lots o£ croco- 
diles, but on enquiry you find that few if any 
of thom were actually bagged. Itis purenonsense, 
of course, shooting at corocodiles in deep water, 
or if they are ashore, only wounding them, so 
that they escape. This is no sport at all. The 
oroco'lile must be properly stalked whea it !■ 
lying on the shore clear of the water, and hit 
in a vital spot, so that it cannot wriggle back 
into the tank. The large ones are, I think, more 
alert than those which are younger and less ex- 
perienced ; but this is the case with every kind 
of creature. 
I do not think a heavy rifle is required for 
crocodile shooting ; the '303 is quite suitable. 
SuflQcient penetration combined with perf -ct 
accuracy are the main desiderata. The Mark IV. 
Government bullet is not sufficiently reliable ; one 
of the regular sporting bullets should be used. 
Out of four crocodiles shot at with the "303 and 
Mark IV. bullet I only killed one ; and out of 
three crocodiles I have known of, killed with the 
"303 and Mark IV, there was only one case where 
the bullet may be said to have expanded in a 
thoroughly satisfactory manner. Jiven a heavy 
bullet has to be well placed to kill a crocodile 
outright. I hit one behind the shoulder with a 10- 
bore bullet ; it struggled back into the water, and 
rolled about feebly at the surface, getting farther 
and farther out, so that when it eventually died 
and sank, the water was too deep to fish it up. If 
I had placed the ball through its head, it would of 
course have never moved. The difficulty of 
crocodile stalking is immensely increased by the 
frogs, which haunt the edges of tanks. .Some- 
times when one is stealing along the tank side 
of a bund, a fat frog will jump into the water 
with a flop, and there go off in a series of ducks 
and drakes along the surface, eflFectually scaring 
the crocodile if it is within hearing distance. 
A good crocodile's skull mounted on a shield 
makes a very decent ti-ophy, and the skin of a 
small one mounted with the head on does not 
look at all bad. 
I believe that the crocodile found in Ceylon is 
CrocodUus palustris, but I have no book of refer- 
ence at hanflif to make certain. As to the size to 
which they grow, I have seen one which I estimated 
to be 13 or 14 feet long, but I have found the exuviap> 
of what must have been a perfect monster ; and I 
fancy that in the larirer sheets of water there are 
a few 17 or 18 feet in length. In the small tanks 
they run from 6 to 9 feet and in the large tanks 
crocodiles about 10 feet long are a common size. 
A crocodile when it has settled comfortably down 
to bask in the sun usually has its jaws wide open, 
possibly with a view to airing its inside. When 
fatally hit, but not quite dead, they open and shut 
their jaws spasmodically and wag their heads 
feebly from side to side. 
The cross-country journeys made by crocodiles 
are invariably done at night, and the early morn- 
ing and evenini? are the best times to look for them, 
though they often lie out when notmuch disturbed 
in the middle of the day. 
Sometimes one will find little pools in the jungle, 
occupied by crocodiles, especially if they are a good 
depth in the middle. I have found a good sized cro- 
codile in a water hole, only the size of a large room. 
Hornaday, the author of " Two Years in the 
Jungle," shot a great number of crocodiles with 
a "40 cal. Ma3''nard rifle, and his aim was always 
to shatter the spine. I do not know what 
particular cartridge his rifle took, but it would 
probably be 60 grains powder and a 260 grain 
bullet, at any rate he found it was not power- 
ful enough to cope with the large fish-eaters of 
15 or 16 feet long, the ball not having weight 
enough to cut the vertebrae. The "303 with soft 
nose bullet is very much more powerful than 
any of the "40 cal. American rifles, and I imagine 
one should be able to kill the largest crocodiles 
with it. if the bullet is placed just right. I 
have killed a crocodile with a 12-bore smooth 
bore " Ubique," and of course when you can 
get near enough nothing could be more effective 
than the large spherical bullet from one of these 
guns. Crocodiles, however, are often in each 
positions that they have to be shot at from a 
considerable distance, so that an extremely 
accurate single shot or magazine rifle is the best 
weapon. 
—Asian, May 29th. " Flkur-di-Lts. 
