The crocodile feeds upon fish, and any animals
which he can catch, when they come to the banks of the Nile and other
African rivers to drink. Though it is clumsy in its movements on land, it
makes its way swiftly through the water by means of its tail; sometimes it
opens its terrible jaws, gives a great yawn, and then shuts them again with
a sound which is heard far away. Mr. Arnot, a missionary in the heart of
Africa, tells us that the crocodiles in the great river Zambesi drag the
game which they catch under water, and so drown them, and then hide them
under the river's banks. He says, "I used to watch these animals come up
with perhaps a quarter of an antelope, and by firing at their heads I
compelled them to drop their supper, Which my men picked up from their
boats." The crocodiles' eggs are about the size of goose-eggs, and are said
to be good to eat.
Herodotus, the "Father of History," tells a curious story about the
crocodile and the Nile bird. He says, "When the crocodile takes his food in
the Nile, the interior of its mouth is always covered with flies. All birds
with one exception flee from the crocodile: but this one bird, the Nile
bird, far from avoiding it, flies towards the reptile with the greatest
eagerness, and renders it a very essential service. Every time the
crocodile goes on shore to sleep, and at the moment when it lies extended,
with open jaws, the Nile bird enters the mouth of the terrible animal and
delivers it from the flies that it finds there.
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