Few Reptiles Are More Disgusting In Appearance Than These Brutes;
But, Nevertheless, Their Utility Counterbalances Their Bad
Qualities, As They Cleanse The Water From All Impurities.
So
numerous are they that their heads may be seen in fives and tens
together, floating at the top
Of the water like rough corks; and
at about five P.M. they bask on the shore close to the margin of
the shore ready to scuttle in on the shortest notice. They are
then particularly on the alert, and it is a most difficult thing
to stalk them, so as to get near enouogh to make a certain shot.
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.
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