The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-05
FISHING FOR MAN-EATERS.
With q Calf or Monkey for Bait Good
sport L. Had with CrocodIIes.

Good sport may be had on three continents
Asia, Africa, and South America-with a small
steel rope. a fish hook two feet long. and q calf,
small deer, sheep. or other like-siZed animal
for bait. A small derrick, such as is used to
hoist stone on a new building, would serve as
q rod. A fisherman who had caught no larger
fish than salmon. using q silk line and flies to
match. might think this rather heavy tackle,
but it is none too large to land 25-foot croco-
dies and caymans. In fact. the fisher would
find that crocodiles require playing quite as
sktltul, II not as delicate, as a pound trout in
q lively North American stream.
There are thirteen kinds of crocodiles. be.
sides sundry alliRators and some big lizards,
and some Of them are found In parts Of each of
the three continents named, in sundry islands
from Cuba to Australia, in Honduras, as well
as other parts Of Central America. and NADIA
Rascar. They may be seen basking In the
tropical sunlight or heard splashing the water
at night. making odd sounds not at all pleas
ing to the man In a canoe which is rocked dan
gerously by tho waves they make. They also
appear among bathers In many rivers, and,
selecting a child In preference to q man. pre-.
two-year-old deer to seventeen.year-old bucks,
make away with the unfortunate. After
dividusls. and the cry Of The nan-eater! the
man-eater" brings the spectators of the vii
iage. and sends the bathers,all but the vic.
this man-eater gets more than local notoriety,
and the native efforts having failed, the for.
sport. set about to kill it..
~ monkey makes somewhat better bait than
Is tied to the hook. not impaled. and is thrown
rs far out over the water as possible. 1t splashes
and struggles a few moments; when two teethed
wild scream OF terror the bait goes under in a
swirl q water. The line begins to run out,
way; then a sudden and %efectual check is put
on. and the barbed hook is driven into the
is the story familiar to fishermen, on a scale too
big to be realized till one has tried It,. AT least
a and" singing in IN i a DEATH snfer song @s!' to m srseP ers r thpSy;
haul the struggling thing clear Of the muddy
river, and 2 iklifgl sPe@r%oq; lodging the
A writer OF the London Field tells some of
the habits of various crocodiles. All lay eggs,
some In the sand. some in nests; some. watch
over and care for nest and eggs, keeping in.
truders at a distances; some leave the young
are often taken by the jackals, the mangoose,
and other animals. The dread man eater OF
India is said TO be the Croeodlus por9sus, found
he hunted with a rifle, tished for with hook
and line, Trapped, or SHARED. IT shows an
comparatively speaking, the human race has
had the wit TO utilize. II makes its own arti-
tropical birds build huge mounds out Of veg
etaRIes; which; on decaylng' generate heat
10 hatch the eggs, This is precisely
what this crocodile does. 1t is well known
that snakes eggs are found often Ia the ma
nure heaps about barns, while the human race
has merely improved IN the animal way OF
Matching eggs.
In England there are professional teeth clean
ers. but the Englishmnn is no more advanced
In this respect than the crocodiles. No crea-
ture likes comfort more than a crocodile. lie
will lie for hours in the sunshine asleep. Sew
eTal OF the species sleep with their mouths open.
and right ugly looking Jaws they are. IL Is
then that the crOcodile's teeth cleaners come
along. There Is considerable doubt al To the
proper name for them, but they ara little birds
With a fussy way about them that tells OF their
business character, These birds hop between
the open Jaws and pick the teeth. with their
Ills. They also serve as faithful sentinels.
some writers say, for on the approach OF dan
gorous characters they pound the interior OF
the crocodile's mouth till he awakens, when,
sad TO relate, he often closes his jaws so vi
o.ogsly at being disturbed that he kills several
''In many parts OF India" the writer con-
tinues, 'the crocodile IL venerated, n not WOr.
shipped. The tongue Of the crocodile Is at
tached to the roof OF It's mouth, aud cannot
therefore,, DO prOtruded, The ancisnts cOnse-
quently concluded II had no tongue, and II
Is supposed that because OF this popularity II
was chosen as a fitting emblem OF the Deity,
who orders all things by His will alone"
The idea that modern riie bullets cannot