amusement. rings with the most minute attention, and soon found the biscuit which lay by my side. When I liked him well enough to profit by his friendship, he became a constant source of Like all other nautical monkeys, he was fond of pulling off the men's caps as they slept, and throwing them into the sea; of knocking over the parrots' cages to drink the water as it trickled along the deck, regardless of the occasional gripe he received; of taking the dried herbs out of the tin mugs in which the men were making tea of them; of dexterously picking out the pieces of biscuit which were toasting between the bars of the grate; of stealing the carpenter's tools; in short, of teasing every thing and every body: but he was also a firstrate equestrian. Whenever the pigs were let out to take a run on deck, he took his station behind a cask, whence he leaped on the back of one of his steeds as it passed. Of course the speed was increased, and the nails he stuck in to keep himself on produced a squeaking; but Jack was never thrown, and became so fond of the exercise, that he was obliged to be shut up whenever the pigs were at liberty. Confinement was the worst punishment he could receive, and whenever threatened with that, or any other, he would cling to me for protection. At night, when about to be sent to bed in an empty hen-coop, he generally hid himself under my shawl, and at last never suffered any one but myself to put him to rest. He was particularly jealous of the other monkeys on board, who were all smaller than himself, and put two out of his way. The first feat of the kind was performed in my presence: he began by holding out his paw, and making a squeaking noise, which the other evidently considered as an invitation; the poor little thing crouched to him most humbly, but Jack seized him by the neck, hopped off to the side of the vessel, and threw him into the sea. We cast out a rope immediately, but the monkey was too much frightened to cling to it, and we were going too fast to save him by any other means. Of course Jack was flogged and scolded, at which he was very penitent; but the deceitful rogue, at the end of three days, sent another victim to the same destiny. But his spite against his own race was manifested at another time in a very original way. The men had been painting the ship's side with a streak of white, and upon being summoned to dinner, left their brushes and paint on deck. Unknown to Jack, I was seated behind the companion door, and saw the whole transaction; he called a little black monkey to him, who, like the others, immediately crouched to his superior, when he seized him by the nape of the neck with one paw, took the brush, dripping with paint, with the other, and covered him with white from head to foot. Both the man at the helm and myself burst into a laugh, upon which Jack dropped his victim, and scampered up the rigging. The unhappy little beast began licking himself, but I called the steward, who washed him so well with turpentine, that all injury was prevented; but during our bustle Jack was peeping with his black nose through the bars of the maintop, apparently enjoying the confusion. For three days he persisted in remaining aloft; no one could catch him, he darted with such rapidity from rope to rope; at length, impelled by hunger, he dropped unexpectedly from some height on my knees, as if for refuge, and as he had thus confided in me, I could not deliver him up to punish ment. The only way in which I could control his tricks was by showing him to the panther on board, which excited his fears very strongly. I used to hold him up by his tail, and the instant he saw the panther he would become perfectly stiff, shut his eyes, and pretend to be dead. When I moved away, he would relax his limbs, and open one eye very cautiously, but if he caught a glimpse of the panther's cage, the eyes were quickly closed, and he resumed the rigidity of death. After four months' sojourn together, I quitted Jack off the Scilly Islands, and understood that I was very much regretted: he unceasingly watched for me in the morning, and searched for me in every direction, even venturing into the cabin; nor was he reconciled to my departure when my servants left the vessel at Gravesend. It may not be out of place to mention here the extraordinary animal which is said to exist in the countries to the north of the Gaboon river. The natives describe it as the largest of all monkeys, but of a breadth more tremendous than its height; they declare that one blow of its paw would fell a man to the earth. Both males and females are very much attached to their young, and the latter carry them about after death till they drop from their arms. They are fond of imitating men; walk upright; and, having seen the natives collect ivory, if they find a tusk, they carry it on their shoulders till they sink with fatigue. They are said to build huts with leaves and boughs of trees, but not to have sufficient sagacity to live in them, as they get on the roof, and there abide the inclemencies of the tornado season. They attack travellers as if they thought them intruders, and have never yet been taken alive. It is alleged that the African ourang approaches nearer to man than any other. It would, therefore, be extremely interesting to procure one of these Ingheenas, which are probably quite new; for although we know nothing of them except by report, and doubtless hear a number of absurdities respecting them, I feel assured that they exist, and are extremely formidable, both in stature and cunning. I am, Sir, yours, &c. S. BOWDICH. ART. III. On riding on the Back of a Crocodile. By J. H. P. H. MANY people on possessing the original and highly interesting Wanderings in South America, by Charles Waterton, Esq., altogether disbelieve his account of catching the crocodile, or, as it is here called, the Cayman, and laugh at the extreme improbability of his having "jumped on his back," in order to conquer him. (fig. 4.) This the greater part of his readers have looked upon as a fiction; and others have considered it as a downright falsehood. The following observations, therefore, will tend to counteract this idea, and to show that it has actually been the custom, among some nations, both in ancient and modern times, to mount on the backs of crocodiles, that these animals may be taken with more facility and safety. The great Roman naturalist gives this curious description of catching crocodiles: -"Gens hominum est crocodilo adversa in ipso Nilo Tentyritæ, ab insulâ in quâ habitat appellata. Mensura eorum parva, sed præsentia animi in hoc tantum usû mira. Terribilis hæc contra fugaces bellua est, fugax contra insequentes, sed adversum ire soli hi audent. Quinetiam flumini innatant, dorsoque equitantium modo impositi, hiantibus resupino capite ad morsum, addita in os clava, dextra ac læva tenentes extrema ejus utrinque, ut frænis in terram agunt captivos, ac voce etiam solâ territos, cogunt evomere recentia corpora ad sepulturam."— Plinii Hist. Nat., lib. viii. cap. 25. In a rare and very singular book of field sports †, containing one hundred and one coloured plates, to which are annexed four lines in Latin descriptive of each subject, tab. 88. represents, most probably from this account of Pliny, some men riding on crocodiles, and bringing them to land by means of a pole across their mouths, whilst others are killing the beasts with large clubs. The foregoing sketch (fig. 4.) is a figure taken from that plate, with the following verses : — "Tentyra in Ægypto, Nilum juxtà, insula gentem Ex amne in terram: mortem acceleratque nocenti." + Dr. Pococke, in his observations on Egypt, mentions a method of taking the crocodile still more like that which our author practised in South America. He says, "they make some animal cry at a distance from the river, and when the crocodile comes out, they thrust a spear into his body, to which a rope is tied: they then let him go into the water to spend himself, and afterwards drawing him out, run a pole into his mouth, and, jumping on his back, tie his jaws together." (vol. i. p. 203.) Now, Mr. Waterton and his Indians having secured a monster of the Essequibo, by a baited hook fastened to a long rope, "they pulled the cayman," as he describes (p. 231.), "within two yards of me, I saw he was in a state of fear and perturbation; I instantly dropped the mast, sprung up, and jumped on his back, turning half round as I vaulted, so that I gained my seat with my face in a right position. I immediately seized his "There is a race of men hostile to the crocodile, called Tentyritæ, from an island in the Nile itself, which they inhabit. Their stature is small, but their courage in this practice is wonderful. This beast is terrible to them that flee from him, but runs away from his pursuers, and these men alone dare attack him. Moreover, they swim after him in the river, and mounting on his back, like horsemen, as he opens his jaws to bite, with his head turned up, they thrust a club into his mouth, and holding the ends of it, one in the right hand, and the other in the left, they bring him to shore captive as if with bridles, and so frightened with their shouts only, that they compel him to disgorge the bodies he had but just swallowed, in order to be buried." + It is entitled "Venationes ferarum, avium, piscium, Pugnæ Bestiariorum, et mutuæ Bestiarum, depictæ à Joanne Stradano, editæ per Nicolaum Visscher, cum privilegio ordinum Hollandiæ et West-Frisia." "Tentyra, an island of the Nile, in Egypt, is inhabited by an intrepid people, who climb the crocodile's back, and, bridling his mouth with a staff, force him out of the river, and slay him." fore legs, and by main force twisted them on his back: thus they served me for a bridle." Herodotus (Euterpe, chap. 70.), relates a different way of catching this animal on the Nile. — Ἐπεὰν νώτον ὑὸς δελεάσῃ περὶ ἄγκιστρον, μετίει ἐς μέσον τὸν ποταμόν· αὐτὸς, δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ χεί λεος τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἔχων δέλφακα ζωὴν, ταύτην τύπτει. ἐπακέσας δὲ τῆς φωνῆς ὁ κροκόδειλος, ἴεται κατὰ τὴν φωνήν· ἐντυχὼν δὲ τῷ νώτῳ, καταπίνει· οἱ δὲ ἕλκεσι· ἐπεὰν δὲ ἐξελκυσθῇ ἐς γῆν, πρῶτον ἁπάντων ὁ θηρευτής, πηλῷ κατ ̓ ὧν ἔπλασε αὐτῷ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσας, κάρτα εὐπετέως τὰ λοιπὰ χειρᾶται. Tab. 87. of Johannes Stradaen's Huntings represents the manner of taking these beasts, as described by Herodotus, and the lines below it are: "Escâ Niliacus capitur crocodilus et hamo, Escam hamumque vorat; limo obruiturque et arenâ.” † Herodotus says that the people of Elephantine in Egypt call the crocodile xáμvn (champsē) (Euterpe, cap. 69.); and it is worthy of remark, that Bryant gives, among other names for it, that of Caimin. (Mythology, vol. ii. p. 398.) Pococke and Herodotus both assert that some animal is made to cry near the river, so that by its noise the crocodile may be attracted to the spot, and we find due notice was likewise given on the banks of the Essequibo; for we read, “the Indian,” having laid the bait," then took the empty shell of a land tortoise, and gave it some heavy blows with an axe. I asked why he did that? He said, it was to let the cayman hear that something was going on. In fact, the Indian meant it as the cayman's dinner-bell." (p. 227.) Although a ride on the back of a crocodile is not likely ever to become very fashionable, as a morning's exercise or amusement, even in this age of the "march of intellect," yet, it is seen, from the above authorities, that it really is, and long has been, adopted in the process of killing these monsters of the deep. Jan. 27. 1829. J. H. P. H. * "When they have fixed a piece of swine's flesh on a hook, they cast it into the middle of the river; and on the bank they have a live pig, which they beat. The crocodile, hearing the squeaking, goes to the noise; and, having seized the flesh, devours it: they then pull him; and when they have dragged him on shore, they first of all fill his eyes with mud; and having done this, he is very easily despatched." +"The crocodile of the Nile is taken with a hook baited with a dead pig. The reptile, allured to the shore by the squeaking of a live pig, devours bait and hook, and is overwhelmed with mud and sand.” |