. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 32 THE MARSH CROCODILE. of water. It fled to a shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and thrusting its head into the mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound confidence of perfect concealment. "Some years ago, during the progress of the pearl fishery, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton employed men to drag for Crocodiles in a pond which was infested with them in the immediate vicinity of Arijio. The pool was about fifty yards in length by ten or twelve wide, shallowing
. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 32 THE MARSH CROCODILE. of water. It fled to a shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and thrusting its head into the mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound confidence of perfect concealment. "Some years ago, during the progress of the pearl fishery, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton employed men to drag for Crocodiles in a pond which was infested with them in the immediate vicinity of Arijio. The pool was about fifty yards in length by ten or twelve wide, shallowing gradually to the edge, and not exceeding four or five feet in the deepest part. "As the party approached the pond, from twenty to thirty reptiles, which had been basking in the sun, rose and fled to the w\ater. A net, specially weighted so as to sink its lower edge to the bottom, was then stretched from bank to bank, and swept to the farther end of the pond, followed by a line of men with poles to drive the Crocodiles forward. So. INDIAN CROCODILE.—CrocO(7Jtos porosus. complete was the arrangement, that no individual could avoid the net; yet, to the astonish- ment of the governor's party, not one was to be found when it was drawn on shore, and no means of escape was apparent or possible, except dashing into the mud at the bottom of the ; The extreme tenacity of life possessed by these reptiles is well exemplified, though in a ratlier painful manner, by an incident which occurred in Ceylon. A fine specimen had been caught by a hook, to all appearance killed, the viscera removed, and the aperture kept open by a stick placed across it. A few hours afterwards the men came to their victim with the intention of cutting ofi' the head, but were much surprised to find the spot vacant. On exam- ination of the locality, it was evident that the creature had recovered itself in some strange manner, crawled away for some distance, and made its escape into the water. The sam
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