Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-10-16
mrsreIlanfnus.
A Fight with q Crocodile.
The 4EAARKABLE ENCOUNTER IN WHICH
AN ARAB WAS VICTORIOUS.


AN ARAB WAS VICTORIOUS.
.sWhst queer craft I'm glad haven't
got to go to Khartoum in thing like that"
So spoke bearded, brown faced Eng |
lish officer. standing upon the bank of the /
Upper Nile. close to the Arab village of |
Shendy. midway between Berber and
khaFtoum.
Certainly it was ..queer Graf" and he
might we'll be glad that he had not 60 to
make long voyage in it. It was big,
clumsy. fat-bottomed barge, almost as
broad as it was long. and steered oy
quaint. half clad Arab with something that
looked very much like an overgrown
wooden shovel But the rigging was more
curious still. A tall, bony native. stand
ing bolt upright upon the deck, served as
a mast. while a piece of coarse canvas
which he held up at full length in his out
stretched hand did duty for sail: Inns
living mast was kept in its place by two
other men, one OF whom clasped 1t AROUND
the waist. while the other held on 10 us
knaes with all his might and main.
To use living rigging is not always
s.to experiment. and in this case 1t proved
very unsafe indeed. A sudden gust of
Wind took the sail aback, and the Arab
who was serving as mast for it and who
, had nlanted his feet upon the two lower
corners of the canvas in orr Ger to keep it
stretched to It's full exter.e. found himself
entangled In it almos.e before he knew
g what had happeneG. Losing his balance.
: he fell backward and rolled over the edge
Q OF the boat into the water, dragging along
: with him one of the men who had been
holding him up.
The other man scrambled back into the
: boat almost as quickly as he had tumbled
A out of it; but the mast man was not so
: lucky. 1t took him two or three seconds
!. to get rid of the canvas that was hamper
ing him. and those two or three seconds
\ made all the difference. By the time he
f had got clear the ferryboat had drifted a
. good way down the stream, the steersman
q having left bis post and run forward
when he saw his comrades fall overheard
This of itself would have mattered lit
IL tie, for every Arab in the Nile valley can
= swim like duck. But while the strug-
= Cling man was swimming with all his
e = might towards the boat, and the steers
i man was working the boats head round
u to meet him, new actor suddenly appear
ed on the scene, whose coming made affair
. look much more serious.
" No one had taken any particular notice
: of long black log which was lying on
the edge of a sand bank little way out in
: the stream. But at the splash made by
; the two Arabs as they plunged overheard
the seeming log made sudden movement
n displaying as it did so, the vast scaly
> bulk. grinning teeth. and small, cunning,
n cruel eyes of monstrous crocodile.
t The hideous creature waddled down
: into the river so clumsily that any one
o who had been watching 1t would have
: been startled by the arrow-llke swiftness
> of its course the moment it touched the
a water, The poor Arab knew only too we'll
r what was in store for him, and made
s frantic efforts to reach the boat, which
h was now close at hand. But the monster
g was too quick for him. Gliding in between
= him and the approaching barge, it spun
around suddenly and darted right at him,
s opening its terrible jaws wide enough to
j, show two ranges of spiky teeth that might
n have crushed buffalo.
e But Just as all seemed over, one of the
: ferrymen took flying leap from the side
G of the boat and came plump on to the
h crocodiles back. There he stuck like a
= limpet. while the long, sharp jambeyah
: dagger in the right hand dealt stab after
. stab into the monsters undefended side,
s just before the foreshoulder.
h Could the crocodile have spoken he
. would probably have cried out: Foul
= play two against one ~ AS it was, he
e showed his disgust plainly enough by his
3 savage snortings and the furious lashings
n of its ponderous tail, finding that his ene-
Y my was not to be shaken off, he plunged
= suddenly under the water Man and
1 beast went down in a Willing eddy, the
: ripples of which were dark with blood
e A cry of dismay burst from the crowd
l., that had gathered upon the bank as they
S saw the brave Arab disappear. But all
g at once the water began to heave and bub-
e BILE as if some fierce struggle were going
r on in the depths below. and then the Mus
sulman's lean, dark face rose again to the
surface, upon which a moment later the
crocodile's mighty bulk foated limp and
o dead. slain by mortal slap in the throat.
: "Aferin, va habioi!" well done, my
! friend) cried the Englishman, as the con-
! querer struggled ashore. Here are 20
= piastres $50 cents) for you if you can &C.
t cept the gift of an unbeliever'
t mo matter for that offendi" gentle
r men, replied the Arab, with grin. tying
r up the coins in the greasy waistcoat which
was his only clothing. "You may be an
unbeliever, but your money is true Mo-
: hammedan."