234 
MADAGASCAR. 
hideous beast carry with them a virus which 
quickly causes the wound to inflame and mortify. 
Strange to say, women and children are more 
frequently attacked than men, doubtless on ac¬ 
count of the greater care which is exercised by 
the latter when they approach the vicinity of 
the reptile’s haunts. The subtle brute lies in 
wait, at the village watering-place, for the girls 
or women who go down to the brink of the 
stream morning and evening to fetch the daily 
supply of water for the household. They go 
barefooted some little distance into the river to 
dip their vessels for filling, and this is the 
moment when the crocodile seizes upon them. 
The sharp teeth are closed in a moment about 
the naked limb of the victim, and in many cases 
she is dragged under the surface, and disappears 
for ever before any assistance can be rendered, 
or even before her peril is known. 
One of the Hova governors on the coast came 
to me one day with a serious cancer in the tongue, 
which I inspected with some dismay. However, 
I felt that I must do my best for him, and with 
much inward fear I applied a solution of nitrate 
of silver to the place. This simple remedy 
effected a gradual and permanent cure, and 
brought about a friendship between my august 
patient and myself which has remained unbroken 
up to the present time. 
