XIII 
THE CROCODILE 
37 
upon the rudder to wash himself; the vessel was in 
motion, but he was carried off by a crocodile in sight 
of his comrades on the deck. 
These attacks prove that the fact of a vessel 
travelling through the water does not in all cases 
terrify this horrible reptile, but, on the contrary, it 
snatches its prey from the vessel itself while in 
movement. 
I lost so many men by these creatures that I 
made a point of shooting every crocodile that 
showed its head above the surface, or that was 
basking upon the shore. The rifle that I in¬ 
variably carried was a *577 of extreme precision, 
and I slaughtered a vast number of these vermin 
in revenge for their misdeeds. 
On one occasion I killed a crocodile which, 
although not longer than 12 feet 3 inches, was very 
thick in the body; this was proved to be a male¬ 
factor by the testimony of two bracelets and a 
necklace, belonging to a missing girl, which we 
found within its stomach. 
Upon opening the stomach and examining the 
contents we discovered upwards of five pounds 
weight of gravel or pebbles, mixed with a woolly 
substance and aquatic weeds. The wool was the 
hair of the girl, and her ornaments were discovered 
among the gravel. 
The necklace was made of small pieces of wood 
threaded upon a string ; these wooden beads were 
partially abraded by the action of the pebbles, which 
no doubt are swallowed for the purpose of assisting 
