At this second he got his forepaws on to the
bank, when a strange thing happened. There was a rush and disturbance
of the water, such as one sees in a pond in England when a pike takes a
little fish, only a thousand times fiercer and larger, and suddenly the
lion gave a most terrific snarling roar and sprang forward on to the
bank, dragging something black with him.
"Allah!" shouted Mahomed, "a crocodile has got him by the leg!" and sure
enough he had. We could see the long snout with its gleaming lines of
teeth and the reptile body behind it.
And then followed an extraordinary scene indeed. The lion managed to
get well on to the bank, the crocodile half standing and half swimming,
still nipping his hind leg. He roared till the air quivered with the
sound, and then, with a savage, shrieking snarl, turned round and clawed
hold of the crocodile's head. The crocodile shifted his grip, having,
as we afterwards discovered, had one of his eyes torn out, and slightly
turned over; instantly the lion got him by the throat and held on, and
then over and over they rolled upon the bank struggling hideously.
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