“Well, it was a tremendous thickness,” said Rodd.
“Ay, it was thick enough, and heavy enough; and they are stronger than horses. And just you look here, youngster, while we are up this river, where I dare say they swarm, you had better keep your eyes open, for those chaps will pull a deer or a bullock into the water before the poor brute knows where it is, and as to human natur’, they lie waiting close to the banks for the poor niggers, men, women or children, who come down to get water, and they nip them off in a moment.”
“Ugh! Horrible!” cried Rodd.
“Yes, and what made me speak to you was that we are going to settle down for a bit up here in the forest where the sun will be very hot, and where there’ll be no end of great shady trees hanging over the river side and seeming to ask folks to jump in and have a nice cooling swim.”
“I say, captain!”
“Oh, I’m not laughing at you, my lads,” said the skipper sharply. “When we are lying moored or at anchor up here it’s just the sort of thing that you might make up your minds to do without saying a word to anybody. I know I should have done so when I was your age. But I just say to you now solemn like—don’t you do it. For if there’s anything one of these great reptiles likes it’s a nice clean French or English boy.”
“Oh, come now,” cried Rodd merrily, “you don’t call that talking solemn like, captain?”
A grim smile dawned upon the old sailor’s countenance.
“Well, no,” he said; “but I mean it solemn like. I don’t suppose one of they crocs would study about what colour it was, but they go for anything that’s alive and moving, hold on with those great teeth of theirs, and whatever it is they catch, it’s soon drowned when it’s pulled below, and never heard of again.—Starboard, my lads! Starboard!” he shouted, with both hands to his mouth, and the schooner curved round and went off on another tack in obedience to the helm.—“It’s rather an awkward job, my lads,” continued the skipper. “You see, we have to sail to all points of the compass, and one minute you have got the wind blowing gently fair and free from right ahead or dead astarn, and the next you are going into shelter and got no wind at all.”
“But we keep on going steadily up the river, captain,” said Rodd.