St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-03-22

Surely no death is so horrible thar
that Of being eaten by a huge, hideOus
scaly. slime-covered crocodile. Their,
is something romantic and thrilling il
the thought Of being carried of by
majestic lion. or a tiger with beautiful
stripes all over him, and being dined
upon in a clearly and aristocratic man
ner; but to be grabbed by the big. bOny
Jaws Of a fiftecn-foot crocodile, with
breath like a turkey ~buzzard's, and Il
be carried down to the Shiny bottom Of
q nasty, muddy river. and there drown
cd and crushed up and swallowed piece
meal is surely . most horrible and re
pulsive death.
This is no fancy picture, but . state
ment of the real facts in the case. A
man-eating crocodile. to do . successful
business. must live in water that is SC
thick with mud As to be perfectly
Opaque, at least to human eyes This
enables him to swim up close to any one
standing knee-deep in the water, and
seize his victim by the leg before his
presence is even suspected.
In clear water the monster would be
seen at some distance of, which might
result in his getting a piece Of cold lead
instead Of a dinner. OF course, any one
who is rash enough to 60 a-swimming In
waters infested by man-eating croco
dies is liable to fall q very easy prey
whether the water be muddy or clear.
There is a great deal of misinforma'
ton regarding crocodiles. To begin
with. alligators are not the same a
crocodiles, as many people suppose,
though these two kinds of animals art
very much alike.
The main point Of difference between
c~rocOdiles and alligators are as follows
pointed snout, and canine teeth tina,
pass up on either side of the upper jaw
in a notch that was cut there by Dame
Nature for that very purpose.
The alligator has . long broad head,
the sides Of which are nearly parallel
with the snout simply rounded on
at the corners. Its canine teeth 1t into
deep sockets in the upper jaw, and are
therefore out Of sight when the mouth
is shut.
Alligators are found only in the New
World, and in the alligator family there
are about five distinct species Croco.
diles inhabit both the Old World aud
the New-Asia. africa, the Malay Archi-
pelago, Australia and America, both
North and Southland there are four
teen species Of them. The habits Of
both the alligator and c~rocodiles are
much the same.
Some species are small Of size, but
most are large. and although saurians
owe fourteen feet in length are rare
in any species, old individuals Of some
kinds have been known to attain .
length Of seventeen to eighteen feet
Not all c~rocodiles arc man-eaters.
Young crocodiles, which are often hand
some creatures. as reptiles 60, do not At
tack human beings; and the famous
Gangetic crocodile, or gavial, is consid-
cred harmless to mankind. During .
prolonged gavial hunt which I enjoyed
on the Jumna, in Northern India, my
native boatmen used to swim the river
with IMMUNITY, right where gavials,
often of grea: size, were thickest
had the utmost faith in the theory
that the gavials will not attack . man,
for I never found any thing but fish in
their stomachs; but l did not care to 60
in swimming with them. did not have
to do SO. and, besides, when the water is
muddy and full of crocodiles, l do not
enjoy swimming very well.
=. & c~r AA~A r4~n ~ TIA u~NN
odilcs of the New World are habitual
man-eaters. Even there, of course, If .
man should deliberately make . tempt
ing bait Of himself, 1T . place where
c~rocodiles are large and numerous, he
might get badly taken in. The same
might be said Of nearly all the large
species of Africa and Australia, for .
crocodile can not be expected to always
distinguish the difference between imam
and any other animal of similar size, ii
he finds him swimming in the water
which constitutes his lawful hunting
ground.
But when we compare the records of
the alligator, caiman, ~jacare, and three
species Of. American ~crocodiles with
that of the saltwater crocodile-Croco-
dilus porosus-of Southern Asia and the
Malay Islands, we cheerfully admit that
none of our species can justly be classed
with the m~an-eaters.
In Borneo especially saltwater croco-
diles are the terror of the tidal rivers.
They are not found in the clear waters
above the influence of the tides, but
they abound nearer the sea. where the
water is deep and as mur,1y IS ink. The
old ones are of great size. very roracioIs
and very aggressive; they sometimes
seize men who are in boats, and drag
them overheard in spite of the frantic
struggles of the victim.
On the Sambas river it used to be con-
sidered very dangerous to sleep in .
small boat. and to swim in any Bornean
river near its mouth would be = hazard
Gus and ~foolhardy proceeding. In fact,
the crocodiles Of this region obtain the
most of their food by seizing wild hogs
and other animals that are in the habit
Of swimming across the rivers.
Although ! have killed many . man.
eating crocodile in Malay Peninsula and
Borneo, ! am thankful to say that
never saw q man seized and carried
down BY one. and al q ~ Information