assistance. The horror-stricken group looked on without
attempting, probably without being able, to rescue her; and dreadful it
was to hear her cries and to see her struggles till, dragged into deep
water, she was concealed beneath its surface. Some men having
assembled, they resolved to try and catch the crocodile, to punish him
for his atrocity. For this purpose they baited a large hook. It was
made fast, not to a single thick rope, but to a bunch of small ones,
which the monster cannot bite through as he does a large one, as they
sink into the spaces between his teeth, and thus secure it more firmly
in his mouth. This collection of lines was carried out into deep water
by a buoy, and the end secured to some strong stakes driven in where it
was sufficiently shallow for the purpose. The hook was baited with the
entrails of a goat. Thus prepared, it was left during the night.

On leaving our tents the next morning, we found a strong strain on the
rope, and the natives soon collecting, a canoe was launched, and some
men getting into her, the line was made fast to her bow. No sooner did
the crocodile feel himself hauled towards the shore, than he resisted
strongly, and away spun the canoe off towards the middle of the lagoon.
The crew tugged one way and the monster the other, and now and then he
raised his fierce-looking head above the surface, clashing his jaws
together with the most horrid sound, which showed that if he once got
the canoe between them he could easily crush it and its crew.

The crocodile has no fleshy lips. All his mouth is composed of hard
bone, so that when he snaps with his teeth and jaws, it sounds exactly
as if two large pieces of hard wood had been struck together, and warns
any one of the fate they may expect if caught by them.

The natives, however, did not appear to fear him. They let him haul
away and exhaust his strength, and then once more they paddled towards
the land. Having at last carried the end of the line on shore, all
hands hauled away on it, and though he struggled vehemently, the
monster's huge snout was seen emerging from the water and gradually
approaching the dry land. No sooner, however, was he fairly on shore
than he appeared stupified, or else he was pretending to be so, that he
might have an opportunity of catching some one unawares. I was about to
go up to him to examine him more closely, when, with a terrific wag of
his huge tail, up he started and made a de