Natives of Africa shoot the Crocodile with a gun, or attack it with a barbed javelin, which is thrown by hand, and aimed at the fore-shoulder. Some Egyptians are reported to be daring enough to swim under the Crocodile, and pierce him in the belly with a dagger. The negroes of Senegal are said to be equally expert. If they surprise the animals in parts of the river where there is not sufficient water for them to swim, they attack the monster with a lance; and with their left arm wrapped in a sheet of leather, they commence by aiming with their weapon at the eyes and throat; then they thrust the arm, encased in leather, into its mouth, and, holding it open, their enemy is either suffocated or expires under the wounds received. Traps are also employed successfully for their destruction. In Egypt the natives dig a deep hole in the ordinary route of the Crocodiles, which is easily discovered by the trail they leave in the sand. This hole is covered with branches and strewed with earth. The Crocodile is now alarmed with loud cries, which disturb and drive him back to the river, by the same way that it has left it. As it passes over the treacherous hole it falls in, when it is killed, often with the most brutal cruelty. At other times a thick cord is attached to a large tree, and to the other end of the cord a lamb is bound, held by a protruding hook. The cries of the lamb attract the Crocodile, which, in its attempt to carry off the bait, is taken by the hook. Still another method for the destruction of these repulsive-looking creatures has been adopted on one or two occasions by our countrymen in India. A dead animal is procured, in its abdomen is placed a loaded shell, to which is attached a wire made fast to an electric battery; when the bait has been seized and carried to the bottom, the shell is exploded, which invariably maims or kills the Crocodile. The _Gavials_, or Indian Crocodiles, have long narrow cylindrical muzzles, slightly inflated at the extremity; the teeth are almost the same, both in number and shape, on each jaw, the two first and the fourth of the lower jaw pass into notches or indentations in the upper jaw, and not into holes, as in Crocodiles; the hind legs are dentated and palmated, like those of African Crocodiles. The Gavials are chiefly remarkable for their long head, its type being the _Gavial of the Ganges_, or _Gavial longirostre_. It is of a deep watery green colour, having on the upper part numerous irregular brown spots; in the young, the back and limbs are transversely banded with black; the lower part is of a pale whitish yellow; the jaws are marked with brown, the claws are of a clear horn colour. This species is not so carnivorous as the others, and is consequently less dreaded. The Gavial of the Ganges, _G. Gangeticus_, is supposed to be the largest of the existing Saurians; its length, as given by Duméril, is seventeen feet four inches. CHAPTER IV. CHELONIANS, OR SHIELDED REPTILES.