The Shire swarmed with crocodiles; we
counted sixty-seven of these repulsive reptiles on a single bank, but
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. The 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 actual
leeches between the 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 of 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. For 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 made pleasant additions to our
salted provisions, in geese, ducks, and hippopotamus flesh. One of
the comb or knob-nosed geese, on being strangled in order to have its
skin preserved without injury, continued to breathe audibly by the
broken humerus, or wing-bone, and other means had to be adopted to
put it out of pain. This was as if a man on the gallows were to
continue to breathe by a broken armbone, and afforded us an
illustration of the fact, that in birds, the vital air penetrates
every part of the interior of their bodies. The breath passes
through and round about the lungs - bathes the surfaces of the
viscera, and enters the cavities of the bones; it even penetrates
into some spaces between the muscles of the neck - and thus not only
is the most perfect oxygenation of the blood secured, but, the
temperature of the blood being very high, the air in every part is
rarefied, and the great lightness and vigour provided for, that the
habits of birds require. Several birds were found by Dr. Kirk to
have marrow in the tibiae, though these bones are generally described
as hollow.
During the period of our detention on the shallow part of the river
in March, Mr. Thornton came up to us from Shupanga: he had, as
before narrated, left the Expedition in 1859, and joined Baron van
der Decken, in the journey to Kilimanjaro, when, by an ascent of the
mountain to the height of 8000 feet, it was first proved to be
covered with perpetual snow, and the previous information respecting
it, given by the Church of England Missionaries, Krapf and Rebman,
confirmed. It is now well known that the Baron subsequently ascended
the Kilimanjaro to 14,000 feet, and ascertained its highest peak to
be at least 20,000 feet above the sea. Mr. Thornton made the map of
the first journey, at Shupanga, from materials collected when with
the Baron; and when that work was accomplished, followed us. He was
then directed to examine geologically the Cataract district, but not
to expose himself to contact with the Ajawa until the feelings of
that tribe should be ascertained.
The members of Bishop Mackenzie's party, on the loss of their head,
fell back from Magomero on the highlands, to Chibisa's, in the low-
lying Shire Valley; and Thornton, finding them suffering from want of
animal food, kindly volunteered to go across thence to Tette, and
bring a supply of goats and sheep.
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