At Length I Succeeded In Calling Them To Shore,
And We Almost Immediately Saw The Body Of The Crocodile Appear
Belly upwards, about fifty yards down the stream; the forepaws
were above the water, but, after rolling round several times,
It
once more disappeared, rapidly carried away by the muddy torrent.
This was quite enough for the Arabs, who had been watching the
event from the opposite bank of the river, and the report quickly
spread that two crocodiles were killed, one of which they
declared to be the public enemy that had taken the men at the
ferry, but upon what evidence I cannot understand. Although my
Arabs looked forward to a dinner of crocodile flesh, I was
obliged to search for something of rather milder flavour for
ourselves. I waited for about an hour while the first crocodile
was being divided, when I took a shot gun and succeeded in
killing three geese and a species of antelope no larger than a
hare, known by the Arabs as the Dik-dik (Nanotragus
Hemprichianus). This little creature inhabits thick bush. Since
my return to England, I have seen a good specimen in the
Zoological Gardens of the Regent's Park.
Upon my arrival at the tents, I found the camp redolent of musk
from the flesh of the crocodile, and the people were quarrelling
for the musk glands, which they had extracted, and which are much
prized by the Arab women, who wear them strung like beads upon a
necklace.
A crocodile possesses four of such glands; they vary in size
according to the age of the reptile, but they are generally about
as large as a hazel-nut, when dried. Two glands are situated in
the groin, and two in the throat, a little in advance of the
fore-legs. I have noticed two species of crocodiles throughout
all the rivers of Abyssinia, and in the White Nile. One of these
is of a dark brown colour, and much shorter and thicker in
proportion than the other, which grows to an immense length, an
is generally of a pale greenish yellow. Throughout the Atbara,
crocodiles are extremely mischievous and bold; this can be
accounted for by the constant presence of Arabs and their flocks,
which the crocodiles have ceased to fear, as they exact a heavy
tribute in their frequent passages of the river. The Arabs assert
that the dark-coloured, thick-bodied species is more to be
dreaded than the other.
The common belief that the scales of the crocodile will stop a
bullet is very erroneous. If a rifle is loaded with the moderate
charge of two and a half drachms it will throw an ounce ball
through the scales of the hardest portion of the back; but were
the scales struck obliquely, the bullet might possibly glance
from the surface, as in like manner it would ricochet from the
surface of water. The crocodile is so difficult to kill outright,
that people are apt to imagine that the scales have resisted
their bullets.
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