Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-03-12
CROCODILES.
monsters or tho Nile - Ancient Worship
or tho Heptile-A Friend OF the Croc-

'iioo, Vho laIPesG ana most powerful,
IS the crocodile of the Nile, that at
tains length of thirty feet. Accord
Ing TO Sir John Richardson, it appears
to have been well known from the ear
lest periods, and it even seems to have
been worshipped in Egypt previous to
our historic records of that country.
At Memphis it was treated with the
greatest care by certain priests who
mad charge of it, and VINO nourished it
with abundant food. Sacrifices and
offerings were presented TO it; it was
adorned with trinkets and jewels, and
lodged in lake or basin in the midst
OF the temple. Treated in this man
ner The crocodile lost its ferocity and
became so tame as to he led about in
religious professions and ceremonies.
When the celebrated Greek historian
Herodotus visited Egypt, which was
about four hundred years before the
birth of Christ, the habits of this ami
NAL were well-known. His object was
IN great measure, to investigate the
religious history Of that people, and
therefore he was insensibly led to the
study of an animal which was so
mixed up with their sacred rites as the
crocodile. At that time he informs us
that the inhabitants Of the Thebaid
and the shores of the Lake Moeris re-
garded these creatures with the high
est reverence. Each person in that
district reared a crocodile, which they
ralned up, suspcnding gold and jewels
from its earlids, and adorning its fore
feet with wings of gold. They fed it
carefully, and with delicacies, and
when it died it was cmbamed and
placed in some consecrated repository.
Numerous mummies of young croco-
diles in the British Museum, obtained
from their primitive repositories, after
lapse Of more than a thousand years
since their embalming and still in
perfect preservation, attest the truth
of that statement.
The Romans introduced these rep
tiles in their national games at the
Coliseum. The first were imported un-
der the adileship of Scaurus. They
were used in combats. and the willy
brutes doubtless laid low many a no.
ble Roman for the time being. Under
the Emperor Augustus the circus of
Flaminius was filled with several feet
Of water, thirty-siX crocOdiles intro
duced, where as many gladiators fought
them for the amusement of the Roman
populace. Among old Roman coins,
medals have been found bearing the
imprint of these brutes, that were
probably won in the strange combats.
These monsters are now confined to
the Upper Nile and the small rivers of
Western Equatorial Africa. Here they
are dreaded by every animal, with one
exception, that of friend of the croc-
odile, little bird that enters the
mouth of the great reptile and removes
the ineects that infest it. This story
was first told by IIerodotus, and of
course doubted, but later researches
show it to be fact. The following is
translation of paper read before
the French Academy of Sciences, on
the subject: "It is perfectly true that
there exists little bird which flies
about perpetually seeking, even in the
mouth of the crocodile, the insects
which form the principal part Of its
nourishment." This bird is like a plo-
yer. The odella, which thus torment
the crocodiles, and even excite them to
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 tn y cover tie entire
surface Of the palate, and form a
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
TO catch them, and deliver it from such
innumerable enemies. The crocodile
with one bite could easily destroy tho
bird, but he knows too well what he
owes to this friend to do it an injury.
Crocodiles Of the Nile are more vora-
cious than the American alligaSors.
asserts that in Upper
Egypt they often devour women who
come to draw water from the Nile, and
children playing upon its banks. Ge-
offroy Saint-IIilaire says that in the
lie often met with Arabs
an arm or a leg, who accused
crocodiles of their mutilation. Sir
Samuel Baker also mentioned in his
work on the Nile and its tributaries
the desire of the amphibia for human
flesh and the dread they are held in by
the natives. Livingstone, the celebra-
ted traveller, gives the following ac>
counts Of the ferocious animals:
"The crocodile he says, "makes
many victims every year among the
children who are so imprudent as to
play on the banks of the Liambia,
when their mothers go to fetch water.
The crocodile stupe6es its victim with
A blow from its tail; then drags it into
The river where it is soon drowned. In
general, when the crocodile perceives
nan il dives and fnrti valv nlides awau