I had a very agreeable time in hunting while I was with Shimbouvenegani. It was during my stay there that I discovered the nshiego mbouvé, of which I will speak by-and-by.
We also had a great crocodile hunt, which pleased the people very much, as they are extravagantly fond of the meat. Now and then during my travels, for lack of something better, I have been obliged to eat crocodiles. I have tried it in all sorts of ways—steaks, stews, boiled, and broth; but I must say I was never fond of it.
They killed more or fewer crocodiles every day at this village; but the negroes were so lazy that they were glad to have me go and save them the trouble. Moreover, the crocodile has not much meat on him; so that, though some were killed every day, the village was never sufficiently supplied.
We went in canoes. These canoes on the Anengue are of very singular construction. They are quite flat-bottomed, and of very light draught; many of them are about fifty feet long, with a breadth of not more than two feet, and a depth of ten to twelve inches. They are made of a single tree. They are ticklish craft. The oarsmen stand up and use paddles seven feet long, with which they can propel one of these canoes at a very good rate. They are, of course, easily capsized, the gunwale being but a very few inches above the water; but they do not often tip over. What surprised me most was the way in which the negro paddlers stood up at their work all day without tiring.
The negroes on the Anengue hunt the crocodile both with guns and with a kind of harpoon. The vulnerable part of the animal is near the joints of his forelegs; and there they endeavour to wound it. Though so many are killed they do not decrease in numbers, nor, strange to say, do they seem to grow more wary. They were to be seen everywhere during the dry season; when the rainy season comes they disappear.
As we started out, we saw them swimming in all directions, and lying on the mud banks sunning themselves. They took no notice of our canoe at all. As we were to shoot them we were obliged to look for our prizes on the shore, for if killed in the water they sink and are lost. Presently we saw one immense fellow extended on the bank among some reeds. We approached cautiously. I took good aim and knocked him over. He struggled hard to get to the water, but his strength gave out ere he could reach it, and to our great joy he expired. We could not think of taking his body into our canoe, for he was nearly twenty feet long.
We killed another which measured eighteen feet. I never saw more savage-looking jaws; they were armed with most formidable rows of teeth and looked as though a man would scarcely be a mouthful for them.
We had brought another canoe along, and capsizing this upon the shore, we rolled the dead monsters into it and paddled off for the village. Then we returned to the olako.
During the heat of the day these animals retire to the reeds, where they lie sheltered. In the morning, and late in the afternoon, they come forth to seek their prey. They swim very silently, and scarcely make even a ripple on the water, though they move along quite rapidly. The motion of their paws in swimming is like those of a dog, over and over. They can remain quite still on the top of the water, where they may be seen watching for prey with their dull wicked-looking eyes. When they are swimming the head is the only part of the body visible; and when they are still, it looks exactly like an old piece of wood which has remained long in the water, and is tossing to and fro. They sleep among the reeds. Their eggs they lay in the sand on the island, and cover them over with a layer of sand. It is the great abundance of fish in the lake which makes them multiply so fast as they do. The negroes seemed rather indifferent to their presence.