I  raised  my  head  gently,  and  saw,  to  my  infinite  delight, that  the  lion,  carried  away  by  the  force  with  which  he  had  sprung at  me,  had  fallen  into  the  crocodile's  jaws.  His  head  had  got  as far  as  the  other  beast's  throat,  and  he  was  making  useless  efforts to  free  himself.  I  at  once  jumped  up,  drew  my  cutlass,  and  with  a single  blow  cut  off  his  head,  while  his  body  rolled  at  my  feet : then,  with  the  butt-end  of  my  musket,  I  forced  his  head  as  far as  I  could  down  the  throat  of  the  crocodile,  who  was  choked miserably  in  a  moment.

A  few  minutes  after  I  had  gained  this  brilliant  victory over  those  two  formidable  enemies,  my  comrade  arrived,  uneasy at  my  absence.  He  congratulated  me  warmly,  and  we  measured the  crocodile.    He  was  forty  feet  seven  inches  in  length.

- Chapter 6