424 RHINOCEROS OF THE LADO [ch. xiv 
lizard plundering the nest of a crocodile. The monitors 
were quite plentiful near camp. They are amphibious, 
carnivorous lizards of large size; they frequent the 
banks of the river, running well on the land, and some¬ 
times even climbing trees, but taking to the water when 
alarmed. They feed on mice and rats, other lizards, 
eggs, and fish; the stomachs of those we caught 
generally contained fish, for they are expert swimmers. 
One morning Loring surprised a monitor which had 
just uncovered some crocodile eggs on a small sandy 
beach. The eggs, about thirty in number, were buried 
in rather shallow fashion, so that the monitor readily 
uncovered them. The monitor had one of the eggs 
transversely in its mouth, and, head erect, was marching 
off with it. As soon as it saw Loring it dropped the 
egg and scuttled into the reeds; in a few minutes it 
returned, took another egg, and walked off into the 
bushes, where it broke the shell, swallowed the yolk, 
and at once returned to the nest for another egg. 
Loring took me out to see the feat repeated, replenish¬ 
ing the rifled nest with eggs taken from a crocodile the 
Doctor had shot; and I was delighted to watch, from 
our hiding-place, the big lizard as he cautiously ap¬ 
proached, seized an egg, and then retired to cover with 
his booty. Kermit came on a monitor plundering a 
crocodile’s nest at the top of a steep bank, w r hile, 
funnily enough, a large crocodile lay asleep at the foot 
of the bank only a few yards distant. As soon as it 
saw Kermit the monitor dropped the egg it was carrying, 
ran up a slanting tree which overhung the river, and 
dropped into the water like a snake-bird. 
There was always something interesting to do or to 
see at this camp. One afternoon I spent in the boat. 
The papyrus along the channel rose like a forest, thirty 
