" But the fear
is rather a superstitious fear than the fear of being seized by the
beast. They regard those of their own neighbourhood as more especially
friendly, in spite of the fact that members of their households are
occasionally taken by crocodiles, either while standing incautiously
on the bank of the river or while floating quietly at evening time
in a small canoe. When this happens, it is believed either that the
person taken has in some way offended or injured one or all of the
crocodiles, or that he has been taken by a stranger crocodile that has
come from a distant part of the river, and therefore did not share
in the friendly understanding usually subsisting between the people
and the local crocodiles. But in any case it is considered that the
crocodiles have committed an unjustifiable aggression and have set
up a blood-feud which can only be abolished by the slaying of one
or more of the aggressors. Now it is the habit of the crocodile to
hold the body of his victim for several days before devouring it,
and to drag it for this purpose into some muddy creek opening into
the main river. A party is therefore organised to search all the
neighbouring creeks, and the first measure taken is to prevent the
guilty crocodile escaping to some other part of the river.
Pages:
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458