If a man is caught by the "Exhausters of all Resources," he has a fair chance of escape; if caught by the "Debateable" teeth his escape is decidedly problematical; but if caught by the "Tearers of the Shroud," he is to all intents and purposes a dead man. Whenever it effects a capture the crocodile carries its victim at once below the surface, and either tries to smother him in the soft, thick mud of the mangrove swamp, or pushes him under a snag or projecting root, with the object of letting him drown, while it retires to watch him from a short distance. After what it considers a sufficient interval to effect its purpose, the crocodile seizes the body of the drowned man and rises to the surface, when it "calls upon the Sun, Moon, and Stars to bear witness" that it was not guilty of the homicide-- "Bukan aku membunoh angkau, Ayer yang membunoh angkau." Which, being translated, means-- "It was not I who killed you, It was water which killed you." [499] After thrice repeating this strange performance, the crocodile again dives and proceeds to prepare the corpse for its prospective banquet. Embracing the corpse with its "arms," and curving the tip of its powerful tail under its own belly (until the tail is nearly bent double), it contrives to break the backbone of the victim, and then picking up the body once more with its teeth, dashes it violently against a trunk or root in order to break the long bones of the limbs. When the bones are thus so broken as to offer no obstruction, it swallows the body whole--thus affording a remarkable parallel to the boa in its method of devouring its prey, and recalling Darwinian ideas of their cousin-hood. Miraculous escapes have, however, occasionally occurred. Thus Lebai `Ali was caught by a crocodile at Batu Burok (Kuala Selangor), one evening as the tide was ebbing, and the crocodile, after smothering him effectually (as it thought) in the thick mud, retired to await the end. Insensibly, however, it floated farther and farther off with the falling tide, and Lebai `Ali, seeing his opportunity, made a bold and successful dash for freedom. A similar case was that of Si Ka', who was pushed under a bamboo root on the river bank by the crocodile which caught him, and who, after waiting till his formidable enemy had floated a little farther off than usual, drew himself up by an overhanging stem and swarmed up it. At the same moment the crocodile made a rush, and actually caught him by the great toe, which latter, however, he willingly surrendered to his enemy as the price of his liberty.