Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-08-15
A Man-CrOcOdile.

In London they have now on exhibit
ton a seml-amphibious man named
James Swan, whose performances at the
Pavilion Coventry street are thus describ-
ed bv Frank auckland in Land and
Water:
"When the curtain drew up observ-
ed on the stage pretty large tank, with
a glass front, filled with water In the
water were floating living crocodiles,
averaging from four to six feet long.
"The band strikes up q lively tune,
and the man-crocodile climbs up lad
der at the side of the tank, and at once
Jumps into the water, which comes near
~ up to his neck. He first of all walks
round the tank, and (as it were) stirs up
the crocodiles, making them swim about
in all directions. There is one of his
acquatic beasts, however, of which he
seems to be in wholesome dread. This
is large swapping turtle, but [ could
not get near enough to make out dis
tinctly of what species he was. Having
looked around to see where these rep
tiles are swimming, Mr. Swan dives down
to the bottom of the tank, and quick
ly Selling Mr.. Swapping Turtle brings
him about over his head, much to the
delight of the audience and the discom-
fort of the turtle. The reptile having
been thus performed with, is allowed to
go, and he descends with lazy, heavy
motion to the bottom of the water. Mr..
Swan next feels among the thick of the
crocodiles, which have by this time
crawled into one corner. Having cho-
sen two of them, he very adroitly takes
one in each hand round the neck. This,
[ should imagine, was a very difficult
thing to do, as the crocodiles object con-
siderably; they make the water boil
again with the lashings of their tails.
cat last firm hold is obtained round
their necks, and they are flourished
about in the air, opening their mouths
and swapping right and left.
Mr.. Swan then descends again, and
remains under water for considerable
time. When under water he drinks,
eats, and writes on a slate, in this respect
rivaling, if not outdoing the Human
Frog who performed in London a few
years ago.
"The inscription he writes on the slate
is Swan, the man-crocodile.' He caus-
es the crocodile which he has at the bot
tom with him to make pretense to rub
out the writing with his paw. Ascend
ing again to the surface, Mr.. Swan is
offered box by the attendants. He
opens the lid Of the box, and extracts
therefrom good-sized boa constructor.
This he entwines round his neck and
chest, and again descends to the bottom,
wearing his serpent necklace. From
the bottom he allows the boa constructor
to ascend and swim about the tank
where he likes. The serpentine mode
of swimming by the boa constructor, as
seen in the water, is highly interesting.
The largest of the crocodiles has yet to
be exhibited Mr. Crocodile seems to
know from experience quite we'll what is
coming, SO he swims round and round
at a tremendous pace, causing the water
to become so full of bubbles that one
can hardly see what is going on in the
tank. At length Swan catches the rep
tile; he has evidently considerable diff
Guilty in keeping hold of this fellow, who
lashes his tail about in a most wonder
full manner
" At length, after circumstances with
the crocodile, he manages to get hold of
his head with the right hand and his tail
with the left. He lifts him out of the
water, and apparently is glad to let him