XVII 
THE CROCODILE—LORD OF THE RIVER 
The crocodile is a denizen of all African rivers and 
many lakes. These dangerous reptiles make their home 
in the water, but bask on the sand-banks during the 
day. Crocodiles are very voracious; nothing comes 
amiss to them, whether rats, water-fowl, sheep, goats, 
antelopes, children, women, or men. They are wonder¬ 
fully adapted for the conditions under which they 
live. 
The skin of the crocodile is hard, and beset with 
scales: the portion covering the back contains a series 
of ossified plates, or scutes, which form a reliable 
dermal armour. 
Crocodiles emit a peculiar musky odour : this is due 
to a pale brown, greasy material secreted by two sets of 
glands. One pair is situated in the skin of the throat ; 
the others are concealed in the walls of the cloaca. 
The throat glands are lodged in two pockets, and the 
entrances to them are in the form of slits in the skin, 
lying parallel with the lower jaws. I removed these 
glands from a recently killed crocodile ten feet long. 
The cloacal glands were as big as walnuts. Their 
minute structure was like that of the sebaceous, or 
grease, glands in the skin of man. The throat glands 
were globular and half an inch in diameter. They 
differed in structure from the cloacal pair and were 
more complex. Gadow states that when young croco¬ 
diles are excited the throat pouches can be everted like 
the fingers of gloves. In all probability these scent 
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