A CHEERFUL NEIGHBOR.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2343, 20 September 1880, Page 3

A CHEERFUL NEIGHBOR.

Some six ■weeks ago (says a Home paper) a lively youngcrocodile contrived one night to effect bis escape from Josepba Cboikowa’s travelling menagerie, then exhibiting at Kuscbwarda and all the efforts made to discover its hiding place in the neighbouring brooks and ponds proving fruitless, its proprietress, after three days’ search, gave it up as irretrievably lost, and departed on her Further professional rounds. A month later the smith at Salnau. a village not far from Kuscbwarda, was strolling home towards evening through the rain, when ho suddenly espied, lying in a huge puddle on the high road, what lie at first took to be a drunken man, prostrate, and helpless. Upon trading into the mud with the charitable intention of extricating the recumbent one from so miry a bed, lie perceived to his astonishment that the object of his solicitude was the missing crocodile. Nothing daunted, he fastened a rope round the saurian’s scaly body behind its shoulders, and led it along till he met a cart, into which, with the assistance of the driver, lie managed to lift it. The crocodile made no resistance, hut followed its captor as meekly as though it had been a tame dog tied to a string. On subsequent examination it was found to have increased in size and weight during its spell of liberty, and to he, for a crocodile, in excellent health and spirits. What it had fed upon while roaming about the countiy, and how it had kept out the cold during the chilly nights of May and June, arc still mysteries to its owner, who lias joyfully recovered possession of her truant.