SALT-WATER CROCODILE 
The record for man-eating, however, is held not by the Nile, but by 
the salt-water crocodile, a species attaining a length of twenty feet. It in¬ 
habits the estuaries of East Indian rivers and extends its range from Ceylon 
to the Solomon and Fiji islands, South China and the Philippines. This 
crocodile has often been seen swimming in the ocean, hundreds of miles 
from shore. This swimming ability, no doubt, accounts for its wide dis¬ 
tribution. 
The man-eating prowess of this crocodile has given rise to a host of 
legends and strange customs among the natives of various islands. Frazer 
in his Golden Bough writes that in Koepang, on the island of Timor, a 
pig with red bristles and a young girl perfumed and bedecked with flowers 
were sacrificed to the crocodiles before a coronation or military campaign. 
The girl was set on a sacred stone in a cave, whence a crocodile eventually 
dragged her into the water. There, the natives believed, the reptile married 
her. If she were not a virgin, it was thought, her crocodile bridegroom 
would return her. 
On many islands in the Malay Archipelago the belief is common that 
women sometimes bear twins, of which one is human, the other a crocodile. 
On these occasions the midwife carries the crocodile to the river and 
releases it. The family brings food for the crocodile at regular intervals, 
and the human child must go to the river to honor his twin, on pain of 
terrible misfortune. Often groups of these “crocodile people” go out in 
boats to visit their twins. They sing and weep until a crocodile is sighted 
and then offer it food and tobacco. 
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