They Were All Marked
With Transverse Slips Of Pale Green And Brown, Half An Inch Broad.
When Speared, They Bit
The weapon savagely, though their teeth
were but partially developed, uttering at the same time a sharp bark
like that
Of a whelp when it first begins to use its voice.
I could not ascertain whether the dam devours them, as reported,
or whether the ichneumon has the same reputation here as in Egypt.
Probably the Barotse and Bayeiye would not look upon it as a benefactor;
they prefer to eat the eggs themselves, and be their own ichneumons.
The white of the egg does not coagulate, but the yolk does,
and this is the only part eaten.
As the population increases, the alligators will decrease, for their nests
will be oftener found; the principal check on their inordinate multiplication
seems to be man. They are more savage and commit more mischief
in the Leeambye than in any other river. After dancing long
in the moonlight nights, young men run down to the water to wash off the dust
and cool themselves before going to bed, and are thus often carried away.
One wonders they are not afraid; but the fact is, they have as little
sense of danger impending over them as the hare has when not actually pursued
by the hound, and in many rencounters, in which they escape,
they had not time to be afraid, and only laugh at the circumstance afterward:
there is a want of calm reflection.
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