Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-11
MONEY WANTED AND TO LOAN
AFRICAN CROCODILES.
A Hunter Tells Of the Largest That
He Saw or Shot.

From the Field.
Il have shot number Of crocodiles in
the Zambesi and Luangwa rivers and the
largest one / taped measured fourteen
feet. Once on the Zambesi. while travel
ing in the river steamer Hamburg, | saw
and wounded a much bigger one. II
was lying asleep on a sand bank about
midday and I used q 1903 rifle with a
soft-nosed bullet When the bullet struck
the crocodile raised its tail In the air and
brought il down with a thump, as these
reptiles often do when we'll hit.
thinking il was dead, l picked up a
pair of binoculars and through them saw
the blood pouring out of the wound be-
tween the neck and shoulder. While !
was looking j heard the crack OF two
Snider rifles. and upon turning round
found that two Portuguese soldiers had
both nred. Their bullets did not strike
the crocodile. but passed over II and
raised the sand some distance beyond
However, the crocodile seemed to revive
and was quickly in the water before
could reload and fire again.
This was by far the largest crocodile
l have ever seen. either in India or
Africa, and 1t seemed half as long again
as the fourteen-foot one that I measured
Its bulk and girth were enormous and
far exceeded an eighteen-foot garial
once measured in the Brahmaputra river
III Assault Inc ShippcT VI tic
who had been some time on the Fam
best. told me he had never seen one APP
preaching ii I'm size. 1t was well hit with
a raking shot and. / fancy. it died. but
shall always regret that ! did not fire
again and make sure of this, for / could
have persuaded the skipper to stop the
steamer and put me ashore so that l
might have taped the animal. In fact, he
said he would have done SO had the
crocodile not escaped. The eighteen-foot
arial In "a PYabma rr,fr
was a large one. but / believe l have seen
few bigger. In 1894 these animals were
very plentiful. although In five or six
years they got scarcer, as many people
used TO fire at them from the passing
steamers.
Il have Gn idea that the late Sir Sam
uel Baker mentions a large crocodile in
his book on the sources of the Nile, but
in question that l have forgotten the
facts
a crocodile is an awkward animal to
skin. for the skin Is very firmly attached
to the body. A good many natives are
killed by these animals every year, and
in places where they are dangerous the
natives make a circular fence in the
water to protect themselves when bath
ing and drawing water
The passage referred to by our CORE
spondent is no doubt that I'm "Wild Beasts
and Their Ways" (chapter 80, where
Baker wrote of having seen on bare
patch OF gray granite on an island in the
Victoria Nile two vast forms, each as
thick as the body Of a hippopotamus. and
Of enormous length. These two anteli-
luvian monsters glided slowly and fear
lessly along the gently sloping granite.
and when half beneath the water they
exposed breadth of back which was the
most extraordinary sight / have ever
seen in my long experience of crocodiles .
The canoe in which he was travelling AT
the time was about thirty feet long, and
be judged the surface of the granite AT
about sixty feet. but would not presume
TO estimate the length of these extra or
binary creatures