HUNTING CROCODILES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 270, 4 February 1928, Page 27

HUNTING CROCODILES

SPORT AT SANTA CRUZ The shooting of crocodiles cons ; - tutes one of the chief sports indulged in by the few white people who populate the little-known island of Varikoro. in the Santa Cruz group, according to Mr. C. L. Da we, a wireless operator, who has returned to Sydney after having lived on the island for three years. The fivers on Vanikoro. said Mr. Dawe. teemed with crocodiles. some of which grew to a length, of 16 feet. “Although it is popularly believed that they will not attack a ! uman being,’' said Mr. Dawe, “the white people do not take any unnecessary risks when bathing, and generally keep to the shallow waters of the river. But the crocodiles have an extraordinary relish for dogs, and on several occasions I saw their groat jaws open and seize a terrified animal." At Vanikoro the houses were constructed on the top of high piles on the river bank, and the inhabitants, said Mr. Dawe. frequently shot crocodiles from their bedrooms. While on the island Mr. Dawe came into possession of two La Pe rouse coins. One is dated 1754, and was given in payment for six-penny worth of sugar by a native, who told Mr. Dawe that he found it *in a mangrove swamp.