HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
53 
of five, and some of more than ten. Putting out of considera¬ 
tion the loss thus sustained, it certainly was an interesting 
sight to behold a beast carried down by the alligators, 
speedily torn to pieces by the hungry animals, some of 
whom were soon seen near the surface of the water, 
tossing up portions of their prey into the air, previous to 
consuming it; while the frequency of this occurrence, 
under such circumstances, and in the presence of an almost 
constant firing, produced an effect at once surprising and 
strange. 1 have often seen the alligators bring their prey 
to the bank, and feed; but I have not any reason to 
believe that they are incapable of feeding under water. 
When a bullock was seized, thirty or forty crocodiles were 
sometimes seen about it, but I did not notice any instance 
of one attempting to take a piece from another. I remained 
at the river until noon, and got seven that had crept 
up far on the land, after having satisfied themselves 
with beef. Some of these were about sixteen feet in 
length, and a boy who accompanied me, shot one that 
measured twenty-three feet; he found it to be a female, 
and on opening the stomach, found it almost filled with 
beef.” 
It is generally believed by the natives of Madagascar, 
that the crocodile never, except to avenge an injury, 
destroys innocent persons; and the fact of any one’s being 
destroyed by a crocodile, makes the people shake their 
heads with horror at the unknown guilt of the person 
destroyed. Attaching the popular ideas of supremacy and 
equity to the andrian-andrano, king of the waters, orators 
who flatter the sovereign are accustomed to say, 66 A croco¬ 
dile in the water art thou, not preying on the upright, but 
surely destroying the guilty.” Women, however, have been 
known to enter the water, and combat the king of the flood 
