Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1884-03-21
CROCODILES.
slender. o. M sile = Ancient worship
VI sts heptiIe-A Friend Of the croc-
adiIe

,,on.,sr. % ,ns sile : Ancient worship
VI 10 heptiIe-A Friend Of the croc-
,tdiIe
The most dreaded Of the entire
tribe the largest and most powerful,
& tbe praecdile Of the Nile, that at
tsi6s length of thirty feet. Accord
inc 10 Sir John Richardson, il appears
Il have been well known from the ear
Lost periods and il even seems to have
leen worshipped in Egypt previous to
onr historic records Of that country,
Al Memphis it was treated with the
greatest care " c5ftain priests who
bsd charge Of it, and who nourished it
with abundant food. Sacrifices and
offerings were presented TO it; it was
adorned with trinkets and jewels. aud
lodged II a lake or basin in the midst
If the temple. Treated in this man
,4rthe crocodile lost its ferocity and
hseane 50 tame as to be led about in
rpligiuu, professions and ceremonies.
when the celebrated Greek historian
Herolotus visited Egypt, which was
about four hundred years before the
birth Of Christ, the habits of this an
nal we're well-known. His object was
in a great measure, to investigate the
religious history of that people, and
therefore he was insensibly led to the
stndy of an animal which was SO
mixed up with their sacred rites as the
aro,odile At that time he informs us
tbat the inhabitants of the Thebaid
and the shores Of the Lake Moeris re-
o5rJed these creatures with the high
st reverence Each person in that
district reared a crocodile, which they
rainad up. suspending gold and jewels
from rs aaflids, and adjoining its fore
feet with wings Of gold. They fed it
carefully, and with delicacies, and
when it died it was embalmed and
placed in some consecrated repository.
Numerous mummies of young croco-
dies in the British Museum, obtained
from their primitive repositories, after
i Lapse II more than d thousand years
since their embalming, and still in
perfect preservation, attest the truth
If that statement.
The Romans introduced these rep
tiles in their national games at the
Coliseum. The first were imported un-
ler the edileship of Scaurus. They
were used in combats, and the willy
brutes doubtless laid low many no.
tie Roman for the time being. Under
the Emperor Augustus the circus of
Flaminius was filed with several feet
bf water, thirty-six crocodiles intro
duced, where as many gladiators fought
them for the amusement of the Roman
bopulace Among old Roman coins,
sledals have been found bearing the
bnprint Of these brutes, that were
probably won in the strange combats:
These monsters are now confined to
De Upper Nile and the small rivers of
Western Equatorial Africa. Here they
Hedreaded by every animal, with one
&ception, that of a friend of the croe-
ollie, little bird that enters the
mouth of the great reptile and removes
he meets that infest it. This story
kas first told by Herodotus, and of
Arse doubted. but later researches
#Sw it to be fact. The following is
i Translation of paper read before
The French Academy of Sciences, on
the subject; ut is perfectly true that
there exists a little bird which flies
about perpetually seeking, even in the
mouth of the crocodile, the insects
which form the principal part o. its
nourishment." This bird is like a plo-
yer. The odella, which thus torment
the crocodiles, and even excite them to
madness, are no other than our Euro
pean gnats. Myriads of these insects
haunt the banks of the Nile, and when
these giants of its waters repose on
its margin, warming themselves in the
sun, they become the prey of those
insignificant plgmies. The odella lily
into the crocodiles' mouth in such
numbers that til y cover tie entire
surface Of the palate, and form
|brownish crust. These little pests
pierce the tongues of the reptiles with
their stings 1t is then that this bird
comes into the mouth of the monster
In catch them. and deliver it from such
inpumerable enemies. The crocodile
with one bite could easily destroy the
bird. but he knows too well what he
owes to this friend to do it an injury
i rrocodiles of the Nile are more vora-
eious than the American alligators,
IIasseloltist asserts that in Upper
Egypt they often devour women who
come 10 draw water from the Nile, and
children playing upon its banks. Ge-
otfrov Saint Hilaire says that in the
rhspaid he often met with Arabs
wanting an arm or a leg, who, accused
crocodiles of their mutilation, Sir
Samuel Baker also mentioned in his
work on the Nile and its tri6utarie;
the desire Of the amphibia for human
aasb and the dread they are held in by
the natives. Livingstone, the ceiebra-