This is not bad amusement when no other sport can be had. Around
the margin of a lake, in a large plain far in the distance, may
be seen a distinct line upon the short grass like the fallen
trunk of a tree. As there are no trees at hand, this must
necessarily be a crocodile. Seldom can the best hand at stalking
then get within eighty yards of him before he lifts his scaly
head, and, listening for a second, plunges off the bank.
I have been contradicted in stating that a ball will penetrate
their scales. It is absurd, however, to hold the opinion that
the scales will turn a ball - that is to say, stop the ball (as
we know that a common twig will of course turn it from its
direction, if struck obliquely).
The scales of a crocodile are formed of bone exquisitely jointed
together like the sections of a skull; these are covered
externally with a horny skin, forming, no doubt, an excellent
defensive armor, about an inch in thickness; but the idea of
their being impenetrable to a ball, if struck fair, is a great
fallacy. People may perhaps complain because a pea rifle with a
mere pinch of powder may be inefficient, but a common No. 16
fowling-piece, with two drachms of powder, will penetrate any
crocodile that was ever hatched.
Among the most harmless kinds are those which inhabit the salt
lakes in the south of Ceylon. I have never beard of an accident
in these places, although hundreds of persons are employed
annually in collecting salt from the bottom.
These natural reservoirs are of great extent, some of them being
many miles in circumference. Those most productive are about
four miles round, and yield a supply in August, during the height
of the dry season.
Salt in Ceylon is a government monopoly; and it has hitherto been
the narrow policy of the government to keep up an immense price
upon this necessary of life, when the resources of the country
could produce any amount required for the island consumption.
These are now all but neglected, and the government simply
gathers the salt as the wild pig feeds upon the fruit which falls
from the tree in its season.
The government price of salt is now about three shillings per
bushel. This is very impure, being mixed with much dirt and
sand. The revenue obtained by the salt monopoly is about forty
thousand pounds per annum, two-thirds of which is an unfair
burden upon the population, as the price, according to the
supply obtainable, should never exceed one shilling per bushel.
