32 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
General H. Browne, when at Jubbulpur, showed 
me a *577 solid bullet, tin, which he had fired 
completely through a large crocodile when lying on 
the margin of the river, and he dug the bullet out 
of the hard bank, into which it had penetrated for at 
least 1 foot. This bullet was so little injured in 
form that it might have been used a second time. 
Although the hippopotamus and the crocodile 
are both amphibious, there is a vast difference 
between them in the power of remaining under 
water. The former has enormous lungs, which, 
when inflated, contain sufficient air to nourish the 
blood during five, or at the most ten minutes, at 
the expiration of which it is compelled to reappear 
upon the surface. 
The crocodile has valves which close two small 
orifices in lieu of ears, and also the nostrils, but the 
lungs are not extraordinary in size, in proportion to 
the weight of the reptile. Notwithstanding this 
apparent inferiority in lung capacity, it can remain 
beneath the water for almost any length of time, 
and when it appears upon the surface, it does not 
blow out a jet of spray, neither does it exhibit any 
sign of a desire for inhalation, but it merely looks 
around, as though scrutinising the immediate neigh¬ 
bourhood, either in search of prey, or in the fear of 
danger. 
The crocodile has the power of hybernating. 
This may be seen in many parts of India, where 
these creatures exist in small lakes or tanks, which 
are perfectly exhausted during the hottest season. 
