Crocodile

“ No description of the Crocodile would be complete without allusion to the mode in which it seizes its prey. It does not attack it openly, neither, as some have said, does it go on shore for that purpose. It watches to see whether any animal comes to drink, and then, sinking beneath the surface of the water, dives rapidly, rises unexpectedly beneath the unsuspecting victim, seizes it with a sudden snap of its huge jaws, and drags it beneath the water. ”

“ On land, also, the Crocodile is said to use this organ as an efficient weapon of offence, dashing it from side to side with swift contortions, when its weight, its hard rough surface, and especially its saw-like crests, render its strokes eminently formidable. Like the Turtles, the Crocodiles lay their eggs in the sand, and leave them to be hatched by the heat of the sun. ”

“ The skin of the belly of the crocodile is soft and thin; aware of this, the dolphins plunge into the water, as if in great alarm, and diving beneath its belly, tear it open with their spines. There is a race of men also, who are peculiarly hostile to the crocodile; they are known as the Tentyritæ, from an island in the Nile which they inhabit. These men are of small stature, but of wonderful presence of mind, though for this particular object only. The crocodile is a terrible animal to those who fly from it, while at the same time it will fly from those who pursue it ”

“ Of a bulk truly formidable from 18 to 28 feet long, they are universally dreaded; always on the watch, with activity and appetite ever ready, the Crocodile lets slip no opportunity of committing his depredations on animal nature; the water is his proper element, but if his voracity has caused a scarcity of game here, hid among the reeds, he lies in wait on the banks of the river, expecting the approach of some thirsty animal, compelled by the heat to regale nature with a lap of water, then the Crocodile immediately seizes upon, and pulls down his prey ”

“ And he had need; for before he could push off and point his boat homeward, he saw the crocodile up the river, and coming nearer every moment.
When the crocodile had reached the shore, the canoe was well out in the river. If the animal had not stopped to crawl out on the land and look around for his victim, the boy's devotion would probably have cost him his life. As it was, the crocodile had nearly overtaken the canoe, when the boy's cries brought the villagers to the shore, and the shouts and missiles frightened the angry pursuer away. ”

“ The Crocodile sees afar off a branch thus loaded, swims as near as possible, and then dives until it can see the birds immediately above it, when it rises suddenly, and with a snap of its jaws secures a whole mouthful of the unsuspecting birds. ”

“ The eyes of the crocodile are its most tender parts,—in fact, the only parts that can be made to feel pain. A crocodile may be disabled by cutting at the root of its tail, but it can only be frightened by an attack upon the eyes; and this appears to be a well-known fact, not only to the Indians, but to all its other enemies among the birds and quadrupeds. ”

“ It may be imagined that if the Crocodile were to depend entirely for its food upon the animals that it catches on the bank or in the river, it would run a risk of starving. The fact is, that its principal food consists of fish, which it can chase in the water. The great speed at which the Crocodile darts through the water is not owing to its webbed feet, but to its powerful tail, which is swept from side to side, and thus propels the reptile after the manner of a man "sculling" a boat with a single oar in the stern. The whales and the fishes have a similar mode of propulsion. ”

“ But the crocodile is evidently shy of exhibiting himself, and we scan the patches of sand at the foot of the rocks with our glasses for a long time in vain. The animal dislikes the puffing, swashing steamboats, and the rifle-balls that passing travelers pester him with. ”

“ Thus steadily advancing, they had just arrived at the corner within about eight yards of the crocodile, when the creature either saw them, or obtained their wind; in an inatant it rushed to the water; at the same moment, the two harpoons were launched with great rapidity by the hunters. One glanced obliquely from the scales; the other stuck fairly in the tough hide, and the iron, detached from the bamboo, held fast, while the ambatch float, running on the surface of the water, marked the course of the reptile beneath. ”

“ The crocodile gives his name to his order, crocodilia; which order, happily for human convenience, has but few representatives. The characteristics of this order are: aquatic habits, firmly planted teeth, skin thick and furnished with armor-plates, a long tail, four short legs, and feet with toes. The crocodile’s limbs are muscular and active, well articulated or put together, and end in fingers or toes, whichever we may choose to call them. The strong, bony plates are chiefly on the creature’s back. ”

“ Without paying any attention to the raft or the men, the great crocodile suddenly sank through the water, so close to them that they could see its triangular head, with the large tooth showing on each side of its closed lower jaw, which is one of the features that distinguishes a crocodile from an alligator. ”

“ Waterton tells me that the crocodile does not change—that a cayman, in fact, or an alligator, is just as good for riding upon as he was in the time of the Pharaohs. That may be; but the reason is, that the crocodile does not live fast—he is a slow coach. I believe it is generally understood amongst naturalists, that the crocodile is a blockhead. It is my own impression that the Pharaohs were also blockheads. ”

“ Then all the little fish came again, and said to the crocodile, "How is it that you are beaten by that foolish serpent? You are wise and powerful, and that little fellow conies and beats you." Completely ashamed, again the crocodile hid himself in the water, and began to think by what means he might conquer this serpent upon the tree. After thinking a long time, the crocodile determined on boring a hole through the root of the tree ”

“ But it is in the water that we see them in their full strength; there they swim with their webbed feet and strokes of their powerful tail, and feed upon the fishes and water animals—monarchs of all they survey. Nor is the crocodile content with mere fish-diet. Often he will lie with his nostrils just above the water and wait till some animal—it may be a goat, or a hog, or even a good-sized calf—comes to drink, then he will come up slowly towards it, seize it in his formidable jaws, or sometimes strike it with his powerful tail, and drag it under water to drown. ”

“ The modes of catching the crocodile are many and various. I shall only describe the one which seems to me most worthy of mention. They bait a hook with a chine of pork and let the meat be carried out into the middle of the stream, while the hunter upon the bank holds a living pig, which he belabors. The crocodile hears its cries and, making for the sound, encounters the pork, which he instantly swallows down. The men on the shore haul, and when they have got him to land, the first thing the hunter does is to plaster his eyes with mud. ”

“ Only two suppositions seem to be open to us—Either each species of crocodile has been specially created, or it has arisen out of some pre-existing form by the operation of natural causes. Choose your hypothesis; I have chosen mine. I can find no warranty for believing in the distinct creation of a score of successive species of crocodiles in the course of countless ages of time. ”

“ The last crocodile opened his wide jaws and closed them again with a snap. The hare was too quick to be caught, but the monster’s teeth touched him and tore off most of his fur! As the poor thing limped away, a crocodile called after him:
“‘You see what happens when you trifle with creatures stronger than yourself!’
“The little hare did not know much, but he felt that he was learning. He had no heart to explore the beauties of the mainland now, but crawled [Pg 306] under a bush by the roadside and wished that some one would tell him how to cure his wounds. ”

“ The crocodile is said to grow as long as it lives; and there appears reason to think that some predaceous fishes, such as the pike, do the same. That these animals of comparatively high organization have no definite limits of growth, is, however, an exceptional fact due to the exceptional non-fulfilment of those conditions which entail limitation. What kind of life does a crocodile lead? It is a cold-blooded, or almost cold-blooded, creature; that is, it expends very little for the maintenance of heat. ”

“ As if to add to the terrors of the animal, its head, back, and tail are shielded by a series of horny scales, which are set so closely together that the sharpest spear can seldom find its way through them, and even the rifle ball glances off, if it strikes them obliquely. Like many other reptiles, the Crocodile is hatched from eggs which are laid on shore and vivified by the warmth of the sun. ”

“ All birds with one exception flee from the crocodile: but this one bird, the Nile bird, far from avoiding it, flies towards the reptile with the greatest eagerness, and renders it a very essential service. Every time the crocodile goes on shore to sleep, and at the moment when it lies extended, with open jaws, the Nile bird enters the mouth of the terrible animal and delivers it from the flies that it finds there. The crocodile shows its recognition of the service by never harming the bird."
I have heard that the flies which molest the crocodile are gnats, and their devourer a kind of plover. ”

“ If a crocodile bites at the hook, the crocodile-catcher bawls out, “Choose a place for yourself where you will lie; for many men are come to see you. They are come joyfully and exultingly, and they give you a knife, a lance, and a shroud.” If the crocodile is a female, he addresses her as “Princess”; if it is a male, he calls it “Prince.” The enchanter, who is generally a cunning Malay, must continue his operations till he catches a crocodile in which traces are to be found shewing that the animal has indeed devoured a human being. ”

“ Travellers tell us that in attacking prey the crocodile prefers to give first a good blow with his tail, and so render the victim unconscious. Then he drags it under water and devours it; or, if not pressingly hungry, buries it in the mud until it partly decays. The monsters lie in wait at fords, or at the drinking places where cattle and wild beasts come at evening to drink. Then they seize the stooping prey and pull it under the water. Antelopes, cows, and human beings seem to be the crocodile’s favorite food. ”

“ Crocodile, krok′o-dīl, n. a genus of large amphibious saurian reptiles, including the crocodile of the Nile, and also the alligators and gavials.—adj. and n. Crocodil′ian.—n. Crocodil′ity, captious arguing.—Crocodile tears, affected tears, hypocritical grief—from the old story that crocodiles (which have large lachrymal glands) shed tears over the hard necessity of killing animals for food. ”

“ Should the intended prey be too far from the water to be reached by the mouth, or so large that it may offer a successful resistance, the Crocodile strikes it a tremendous blow with its tail, and knocks it into the water. ”

“ Few creatures are so sly and wary as the crocodile. I watch them continually as they attack the dense flocks of small birds that throng the bushes at the water's edge. These birds are perfectly aware of the danger, and they fly from the attack, if possible. ”

“ The canoe-men were quite positive that crocodiles frequently stun men by striking them with their tails, and then squat on them till they are drowned. We once caught a young crocodile, which certainly did use its tail to inflict sharp blows, and led us to conclude that the native opinion is correct. They believed also that, if a person shuts the beast’s eyes, it lets go its hold. Crocodiles have been known to unite and kill a large one of their own species and eat it. ”

“ And there is some foundation for what our author says of the animal’s habits, for the crocodile does sometimes frequent holes at a distance from water, of which a striking instance is within my own recollection (in which the deep furrowed track also was a notable circumstance) .
The Cochin Chinese are very fond of crocodile’s flesh, and there is or was a regular export of this dainty for their use from Kamboja. I have known it eaten by certain classes in India. (J. R. G. S. XXX. 193.) ”

“ The Crocodiles, both of the Nile and of the Indian rivers, are well known to make man their victim, and scarcely can a more terrible fate be imagined than that of falling into the jaws of this gigantic reptile. Strange as it may appear, the Crocodile is one of the many animals to which divine honours were paid by the ancient Egyptians. ”

“ The crocodile loves to have his teeth cleansed, and therefore embraces the pleasure of having them picked; and the wren seeks her food, feeding upon the fragments of fish that stick in the other's teeth, and for the same reason a crow rides upon a sow's back. ”

“ They stand in battle array, in a single line, along the whole length of the jaws, into which they are sunk with genuine fangs, whilst the prongs of our little lizard are merely fastened to the surface of the bones which support them. Indeed, in one way, the crocodile is even better provided than the mammals. He possesses under each tooth one or two germs, the life of which lasts as long as that of the animal, and which are always there ready toreplace the previous one should it chance to fall out. ”