THE STORY OF THE CROCODILE. 
317 
had secured the unfortunate victim was in his turn attacked by hungry 
crocodiles, and a fierce fight resulted. 
One native, who was smoking at the side of the river, was seized by the 
hand by a crocodile, and would have been dragged in and devoured had he 
not very quickly caught hold of a tree which grew upon the bank, and clung 
with such tenacity that the reptile had to abandon his captive, leaving the 
deep dent of his jaws on his arm. 
In the Upper Nile the favorite haunts of the crocodiles are sandbanks, 
situated in parts of the river where the current is not too strong. There 
they may be seen at all hours of the day sleeping with widely opened mouths, 
in and out of which the black-backed plover walks with the utmost uncon- 
GANGES CROCODILE DEVOURING A CHILD. 
cern. According to Arab accounts, one and the same crocodile has been 
known to haunt a single sandbank throughout the term of a man’s life; 
thus leading to the conclusion that these creatures must enjoy a long term 
of existence, during the whole of which they continue, like other reptiles, 
to increase in size. In common with this feature of uninterrupted growth, 
all crocodiles are also distinguished by their remarkable tenacity of life; the 
shots that prove instantaneously fatal being those that take effect either in 
the brain itself or in the spinal cord of the neck. It is true, indeed, that a shot 
through the shoulder will ultimately cause death; but it allows time for 
the animal to escape into the water, where its body immediately sinks. To 
