a-dozen hands to haul him up the river, and the shark-hook
straightened, and he got away. A large iron hook was next
made, but, as the creatures could not swallow it, their jaws
soon pressed it straight — and our crocodile-fishing was a
failure. As one might expect,—from the power even of a
salmon—the tug of a crocodile was terribly strong.
The corpse of a hoy floated past the ship; a monstrous
crocodile rushed at it with the' speed of a greyhound,
caught it and shook it, as a terrier dog does a rat.
Others dashed at the prey, each with his powerful tail
causing the water to churn and froth, as he furiously tore
off a piece. In a few seconds it was all gone. The sight
was frightful to behold. The Shire swarmed with crocodiles
; we counted sixty-seven of these repulsive reptiles on
a single hank, hut they are not as fierce as they are in
some rivers. “ Crocodiles” says Captain Tuckey, “ are so
plentiful in the Congo, near the rapids, and so frequently carry
off the women, who at daylight go down to the river for
water, that, while they are filling their calabashes, one of the
party is usually employed in throwing large stones into the
water outside.” Here, either a calabash on a long pole is used
in drawing water, or a fence is planted. The natives eat
the crocodile, but to us the idea of tasting the musky-
scented, fishy-looking flesh carried the idea of cannibalism.
Humboldt remarks, that in South America the alligators of
some rivers are more dangerous than in others. Alligators
differ from crocodiles in the fourth or canine tooth going
into a hole or socket in the upper jaw, while, in the crocodile
it fits into a notch. Thè" forefoot of the crocodile has
five toes not webbed, the hindfoot has four toes which are
webbed; in the alligator the web is altogether wanting.
They are so much alike that they would no doubt breed
together.
One of the crocodiles which was shot had a piece snapped
off the end of his tail, another had lost a forefoot in fighting ; we
saw aetual leeches between thè teeth, such as are mentioned by'
Herodotus, but we never witnessed the plover picking them out.
Their greater fierceness in one part of the country than another
is doubtless owing to a scarcity of fish ; in fact, Captain
Tuckey says, of that part of the Congo, mentioned above,
“ There are no fish here but catfish,” and we found, that the
lake crocodiles, living in clear water, and with plenty of fish,
scarcely ever attacked man. The Shire teems with fish of
many different kinds. The only time, as already remarked,
when its crocodiles are particularly to be dreaded, is when
the river is in flood. Then the fish are driven from their
usual haunts, and no game comes down to the river to drink,
water being abundant in pools inland. Hunger now impels
the crocodile to lie in wait for the women who come to draw
water, and on the Zambesi numbers are carried off every year.
The danger is not so great at other seasons ; though it is never
safe to bathe, or to stoop to drink, where one cannot see the
bottom, especially in the evening. One of the Makololo ran
down in the dusk to the river ; and, as he was busy tossing the
water to his mouth with his hand, in the manner peculiar
to the natives, a crocodile rose suddenly from the bottom,
and caught him by the hand. The limb of a tree was fortunately
within reach, and he had presence of mind to lay hold
of it. Both tugged and pulled ; the crocodile for his dinner,
and the man for dear life. Bor a time, it appeared doubtful
whether a dinner or a life was to be sacrificed ; but the man
held on, and the monster let the hand go, leaving the deep
marks of his ugly teeth in it.
During our detention, in expectation of the permanent rise
of the river in March, Dr. Kirk and Mr. C. Livingstone collected
numbers of the wading-birds of the marshes and