I have frequently
remarked that a buffalo, shot within a few yards of the lake, has
invariably disappeared during the night, leaving an undoubted track
where he has been dragged to the water by the crocodiles. These brutes
frequently attack the natives when fishing or bathing, but I have never
heard of their pursuing any person upon dry land.
I remember an accident having occurred at Madampi, on the west coast of
Ceylon, about seven years ago, the day before I passed through the
village. A number of women were employed in cutting rushes for
mat-making, and were about mid-deep in the water. The horny tail of a
large crocodile was suddenly seen above the water among the group of
women, and in another instant one of them was seized by the thigh and
dragged towards the deeper part of the stream. In vain the terrified
creature shrieked for assistance; the horror-stricken group had rushed
to the shore, and a crowd of spectators on the bank offered no aid
beyond their cries. It was some distance before the water deepened, and
the unfortunate woman was dragged for many yards, sometimes beneath the
water, sometimes above the surface, rending the air with her screams,
until at length the deep water hid her from their view. She was never
again seen.
Some of these reptiles grow to a very large size, attaining the length
of twenty feet, and eight feet in girth, but the common size is fourteen
feet. They move slowly upon land, but are wonderfully fast and active in
the water. They usually lie in wait for their prey under some hollow
bank in a deep pool, and when the unsuspecting deer or even buffalo
stoops his head to drink, he is suddenly seized by the nose and dragged
beneath the water. Here he is speedily drowned and consumed at leisure.
The two lower and front teeth of a crocodile project through the upper
jaw, and their white points attract immediate notice as they protrude
through the brown scales on the upper lip. When the mouth is closed, the
jaws are thus absolutely locked together.
It is a common opinion that the scales on the back of a crocodile will
turn a ball; this is a vulgar error. The scales are very tough and hard,
but a ball from a common fowling-piece will pass right through the body.
I have even seen a hunting-knife driven at one blow deep into the
hardest part of the back; and this was a crocodile of a large size,
about fourteen feet long, that I shot at a place called Bolgodde,
twenty-two miles from Colombo.
A man had been setting nets for fish, and was in the act of swimming to
the shore, when he was seized and drowned by a crocodile.
