30

THE INDIAN CROCODILE.

a kind of harpoon is employed, is described by Dr. Rüppell: "The most favourable season is either the winter, when the animal usually sleeps on sand-banks, luxuriating in the rays of the sun, or the spring, after the pairing time, when the female regularly watches the sand islands where she has buried her eggs. The native finds out the place, and on the south side of it, that is, to the leeward, he digs a hole in the sand, throwing up the earth to the side which he expects the animal to take. Then he conceals himself, and the Crocodile, should it fail to observe him, comes to the accustomed spot and soon falls asleep.

The huntsman then darts his harpoon with all his force at the animal, for in order that its stroke may be successful, the iron ought to penetrate to the depth of at least four inches, in order that the barb may be fixed firmly in the flesh. The Crocodile, on being wounded, rushes into the water, and the huntsman retreats into a canoe, with which a companion hastens to his assistance. A piece of wood, attached to the harpoon by a long cord, swims on the water, and shows the direction in which the Crocodile is moving. The huntsmen, pulling at this rope, drag the beast to the surface of the water, where it is again pierced by a second harpoon.

When the animal is struck, it by no means remains inactive; on the contrary, it lashes instantly with its tail, and endeavours to bite the rope asunder. To prevent this, the rope is made of about thirty separate slender lines, not twisted together, but merely placed in juxtaposition, and bound round at intervals of every two feet. The thin lines get between the teeth or become entangled about them."

In spite of the great strength of the reptile, two men can drag a tolerably large one out of the water, tie up his mouth, twist his legs over his back, and kill him by driving a sharp steel spike into the spinal cord just at the back of the skull.

There are many other modes of capturing and killing the Crocodile, such as a hook baited with meat, to which the voracious reptiles are attracted by the cries of a pig, which is pulled by the tail or otherwise maltreated, for the purpose of eliciting those ear-piercing yells which aggrieved swine always produce. The yelping of a dog answers the same purpose, and is used in the same manner. In some cases the negroes are bold enough to engage the Crocodile in its own element, and to attack it with a long knife, which they plunge into the belly.

The eggs of the Crocodile are about as large as those of the goose, and many in number, so that these terrible reptiles would overrun the country, were they not persecuted in the earliest stages by many creatures, who discover and eat the eggs almost as soon as they are laid. It is curious that the Crocodile is attended by a bird which warns it of danger, just as the rhinoceros has its winged attendant, and the shark its pilot fish. The Crocodile bird is popularly called the ziczac, from its peculiar cry.

SEVERAL other species of Crocodiles are known, among which two species are deserving of a short notice, namely, the INDIAN CROCODILE (Crocodilus porósus), and the AMERICAN CROCODILE (Crocodilus Americanus). As the name of alligator is popularly given to these and other reptiles, there is great confusion respecting the precise animal which is under discussion.

The Indian Crocodile, as its name imports, is an Asiatic species, and is found largely in India. It is sometimes called the DOUBLE-CRESTED CROCODILE, because the head is furnished with two long ridges extending from the front of the eye over the upper jaw. This species is common in Ceylon, and literally swarms in the still waters and tanks, though it is but rarely found in rapid streams, and never except in the low lands, the hill marshes being free from these pests. Respecting this animal, Sir E. Tennent writes as follows:

"The species which inhabit the fresh water is essentially cowardly in its instinct, and hastens to conceal itself on the approach of man. A gentleman who told me the circumstance, when riding in the jungle, overtook a Crocodile evidently roaming in search of water. It fled to a shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and thrusting its head into the mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound confidence of perfect concealment.

THE AMERICAN CROCODILE.

31

In 1833, during the progress of the pearl fishery, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton employed men to drag for Crocodiles in a pond which was infested with them in the immediate vicinity of Aripo. The pool was about fifty yards in length by ten or twelve wide, shallowing gradually to the edge, and not exceeding four or five feet in the deepest part.

As the party approached the pond, from twenty to thirty reptiles, which had been basking in the sun, rose and fled to the water. A net, specially weighted so as to sink its lower edge to the bottom, was then stretched from bank to bank, and swept to the farther end of the pond, followed by a line of men with poles to drive the Crocodiles forward. So complete was the arrangement, that no individual could avoid the net; yet, to the astonishment of the Governor's party, not one was to be found when it was drawn on shore, and no means of escape was apparent or possible except dashing into the mud at the bottom of the pond."

The extreme tenacity of life possessed by these reptiles is well exemplified, though in a rather painful manner, by an incident which occurred in Ceylon. A fine specimen had been caught by a hook, to all appearance killed, the viscera removed, and the aperture kept open by a stick placed across it. A few hours afterwards the men came to their victim with the intention of cutting off the head, but were much surprised to find the spot vacant. On examination of the locality it was evident that the creature had recovered itself in some strange manner, crawled away for some distance, and made its escape into the water.

The same author also describes the habits of another species, the MARSH CROCODILE (Crocodilus palustris), sometimes known by the names of MUGGER, or GOA; an animal which has a large range of locality, being found in Asia and Australia. Sometimes this species grows to a great length; there is in the British Museum a skull twenty-six inches in length, denoting a total length of thirty-three feet.

This animal is in the habit of traversing considerable distances in search of water, but, according to the Singhalese, its feet are sadly cut in passing over the hard stony ground. If it is baffled in its search, it returns to the exhausted pool, burrows beneath the mud, and there waits until released by the rains. Sir E. Tennent mentions one instance where he saw the recent impress of a Crocodile in the mud from which it had just emerged, and he was told of a curious incident which befell an officer attached to the surveying department. Having pitched his tent, he had retired to rest as usual, but during the night he was disturbed by a movement of the earth below his bed. On the following morning the mystery was solved by the appearance of a Crocodile, which made its way from under the bed.

As is the case with the common Crocodile of Egypt, the young of this reptile are very small when hatched, but so fierce even in their early days, that they can be caught by pushing a stick towards them, letting them bite it, and pulling them out before they loosen their hold. A gentleman who has resided for eight years in Ceylon told me that one of his friends was so taken with the appearance of these little reptiles that he captured one, packed it carefully, and took it home. On arriving in his house he put the Crocodile, then about nine or ten inches long, into a basin of water and left it. Shortly afterwards a little boy, one of his children, peeped into the basin, and seeing the Crocodile, gave it a push with his finger. The fierce little creature at once snapped at the offending finger, and held it so tightly that the poor child could not shake it off, and ran screaming about the house with the young Crocodile dangling at the end of his finger, until it was removed by an attendant.

ANOTHER well-known species is the AMERICAN CROCODILE, so often and so wrongly termed the alligator. This reptile is found in the tropical and hotter parts of America, and is very common in some localities. When first hatched, the young seem to feed only on living insects, and according to the experiments of M. Bosc, they would not even touch the insects with which they were supplied until their intended prey began to crawl. In Carolina these creatures pass their winter under the mud. During the summer they become lively at night, and make such a hideous bellowing that a person unaccustomed to it has no chance of sleeping. They also have a habit of clattering their jaws together with a loud noise.

ANOTHER species, the MARGINED CROCODILE (Crocodilus marginátus), resides in the rivers of Southern Africa. It may be distinguished from the Egyptian species by the great concavity of the forehead, and the strong keels of the dorsal or back plates. I am indebted to Captain Drayson, R.A., author of "Sporting Scenes among the Kaffirs," for the following account of the Margined Crocodile and its habits, from which it appears that the reptile is formidable not only to the creatures on which it usually feeds, but to man himself:

"About two or three miles from the Bay of Natal there is a river called the Umganie ; into this river a lake called the Sea-Cow Lake empties itself. The lake was, during my residence at Natal, the retreat of several hippopotami and Crocodiles, both of which were in the habit of treking into the Umganie river. Often when riding round the banks of this lake, I have disturbed two or three Crocodiles, which were stealing amongst the reeds and long grass, in hope of stalking a fat toad or a sleepy guana. Sometimes a scaly reptile might be awakened from his doze by the sound of my horse's feet, and would rush through the long reeds towards his retreat. Their movement is much more rapid than would be supposed from their appearance, and they care nothing for a fall head over tail, but almost fling themselves down the steep banks when alarmed.

On the banks of the Umganie were several Kaffir kraals, in one of which resided a man who had been roughly treated by a Crocodile. This man, seeing me pass his residence, called to me and asked as a favour that I would watch at a particular part of the river until I shot a rascally Crocodile that had nearly killed him. The Crocodile, he informed me, always made its appearance about sundown, and he hinted that a position might be selected so that the sun would dazzle the Crocodile and prevent him from seeing me. Finding that I was willing to gratify his revenge, he limped out of the inclosure surrounding his huts, and offering me his snuff-gourd, he at my request gave me the following account of his escape.

He had so frequently crossed the stream below his huts at all times of day, and had seen Crocodiles of small dimensions, that he had become as it were familiarized to them, and did not imagine that there was any danger to be expected from them. One evening, at about sundown, he was wading across the river, the water of which reached above his waist. Suddenly he felt himself seized by the under part of his thigh, whilst he was at the same instant dragged under water. His wife was following him, and seeing him fall she scrambled forward to the place where he had disappeared, and thus caused considerable noise and splashing, which (or something else, perhaps the toughness and bad flavour of the Kaffir) had the effect of making the Crocodile quit his hold on the Kaffir, not however without tearing off great portion of the under-part of his thigh. The man with difficulty escaped to the shore, but he remained a cripple for life, unable to do more than put the toes of his foot on the ground."

WE now come to the ALLIGATORS, the second family of those huge reptiles which may be known, as has already been mentioned, by the lower canine teeth fitting into pits in the upper jaw. They are divided into three genera, all of which are inhabitants of the New World. They are indiscriminately called Alligators, Crocodiles, or Caymans, by the natives or the non-zoological traveller, and there is consequently much difficulty in identifying the particular species. The genus Alligator may be known by the partly webbed toes, the outer toe being free.

The COMMON ALLIGATOR inhabits Northern America, and is plentifully found in the Mississippi, the lakes and rivers of Louisiana and Carolina and similar localities. It is a fierce and dangerous reptile, in many of its habits bearing a close resemblance to the crocodiles and the other members of the family.

Unlike the crocodile, however, it avoids the salt water, and is but seldom seen even near the mouths of rivers, where the tide gives a brackish taste to their waters. It is mostly a fish-eater, haunting those portions of the rivers where its prey most abounds, and catching them by diving under a passing shoal, snapping up one or two victims as it passes through them, tossing them in the air for the purpose of ejecting the water which has necessarily filled its mouth, catching them adroitly as they fall, and then swallowing

them. Though timid, as are most reptiles as long as their passions are not touched, the Alligator has within it a very mine of furious rage, which, when aroused, knows no fear. Urged by a blind instinct that sees no obstacles and hardly deserves so intellectual a name as anger, it flings itself upon the assailants, and only ceases its attack as its last breath is drawn.

No easy matter is it to drive the breath out of an Alligator, for its life seems to take a separate hold of every fibre in the creature's body, and though pierced through and through with bullets, crushed by heavy blows, and its body converted into a very pincushion, spears taking the place of the pins, it writhes and twists, and struggles with wondrous strength, snapping direfully with its huge jaws, and lashing its muscular tail from side to side with such vigour that it takes a bold man to venture within range of that terrible weapon.

It is fortunate for the assailant that its head is not gifted with mobility equal to that of the tail. The Alligator can only turn its head very slightly indeed, on account of two bony projections, one on each side of the head, which are efficient obstacles to any but the smallest lateral motion. The antagonist may therefore easily escape if on land, by springing aside before the reptile can turn. He must, however, beware of its tail, for the Alligator when angry, sweeps right and left with that powerful member, and deals the most destructive blows with wonderful rapidity. Still, the creature would rather avoid than seek a combat, and does not act in this fashion until driven to despair.

An

In some parts of America they catch the Alligator in a very ingenious manner. ordinary hook is said to be of little service against such a quarry, and the natives employ a kind of mixture between a hook and grapnel which very effectually answers their purpose. This so-called hook is made of four sticks of hard tough wood barbed at each end, slightly curving and bound together at one end so as to cause all the upper barbs to radiate from each other. This apparatus is baited with the flesh of some animal, and suspended just about a foot from the water, the other end of the rope being made fast to a tree or strong stake.

As soon as the Alligator takes this bait and begins to pull at the cord, the barbs begin to make their way into its throat, and it is evident from the construction of the hook that

34

THE SOOTY AMPHISBÆNA.

the more the animal pulls, the firmer are the barbs struck into its throat. When thus hooked, its struggles are terrific, and Mr. Waterton, who succeeded in capturing a fine specimen more than ten feet in length, had the greatest difficulty in securing it without damaging its appearance.

The eggs of the Alligator are small and numerous. The parent deposits them in the sand of the river side, scratching a hole with her paws, and placing the eggs in a regular layer therein. She then scrapes some sand, dry leaves, grass and mud over them, smoothes it and deposits a second layer upon them. These eggs are then covered in a similar manner and another layer deposited until the mother reptile has laid from fifty to sixty eggs. Although they are hatched by the heat of the sun and the decaying vegetable matter, the mother does not desert her young, but leads them to the water and takes care of them until their limbs are sufficiently strong and their scales sufficiently firm to permit them to roam the waters without assistance.

As is the case with the crocodiles, the young Alligators are terribly persecuted by birds and beasts, and are even in danger of being eaten by the old males of their own species. During the winter months the Alligator buries itself in the mud, but a very little warmth is sufficient to make it quit its retreat and come into the open air again. While lively, especially at night, it is a most noisy animal, bellowing in so loud a tone and in so singular a cadence that even the nightly concert of jaguars and monkeys is hardly heard when the Alligators are roaring.

It sometimes attains to a great size, and is then formidable to man. Mr. Waterton mentions a case when one of these creatures was seen to rush out of the water, seize a man and carry him away in spite of his cries and struggles. The beast plunged into the river with his prey, and neither Alligator nor man were afterwards seen.

The JACARE, or YACARE (Jacare sclerops), also belongs to this family. It inhabits Brazil and is not uncommon. It may be known by the ridge across the face between the eyes, the scarcely-webbed hind feet and the fleshy eyelids. On account of the aspect of its eyes it is sometimes called the Spectacled Cayman. It is said that although this reptile attains a very large size, it will not attack a man even in the water, provided that he always keeps in motion. They pass the night in the water and the day on the shore, where they lie sleeping on the sand, dashing into the water if alarmed.

We now leave the crocodiles and alligators, and proceed to another order of reptiles. These creatures are termed Amphisbænidæ, from two Greek words signifying to go both ways, in allusion to the shape of the animal, which looks as if it had a head at each extremity. In former times indeed, it was thought that not only could these reptiles creep backward and forward with equal ease, but that they absolutely possessed two veritable heads. None of these reptiles are of great size. They are divided into four families, three of which are without external feet, and the members of the other family only possess the front pair of legs very slightly developed. Their eyes are very minute and entirely covered with skin, so that their sight must be of the most limited character. As in the case of the mole, however, this deprivation of sight does not interfere with the welfare of the animal, for it lives mostly beneath the earth, where eyes would be useless.

The SOOTY AMPHISBÆNA is a native of Southern America, being found most plentifully in Brazil and Cayenne. It lives almost wholly underground, boring its way through the soft earth like the common worm, and traversing the soil with considerable address. It feeds upon animal substances, and is very fond of ants, termites and their young. Indeed, it is no extraordinary occurrence on breaking down a termite's nest, to find an Amphisbæna within, luxuriously curled up in the midst of plenty. Ant's nests below the ground are often penetrated and ransacked by this reptile.

Being too small to injure man by sheer force, and being devoid of poisonous teeth, this creature is quite harmless except to the insects on which it feeds. It is able to crawl in either direction with nearly equal ease and rapidity, and on account of the bluntness of its tail and the almost imperceptible eyes, affords some reason for the popular idea of its possessing two heads.