CROCODILE OR WHAT?

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2221, 2 October 1886, Page 2

CROCODILE OR WHAT?

To be sure, the idea of a crocodile making his way unobsei ved from warmer latt itudes across tho ocean and taking up his residence in the vicinity of Hamilton is very laughable. Yet Mr Caatleton's boya declare that the beaut which chased ahem up the banks of the creek running through the farm resembled the pictures they had seen of alligators more than anything else tkoy can think of. They scout the notion of its being a pig, scornfully demanding to know whether they, seeing members of the porcine species daily, could be deceived by a pig. What adds to the difficulty of elucidating the story is the fact that both boys are evidently telling the truth, that is to say, thoy believe their narrative to bo correct. On Thursday afternoon a representative of this journal visited Mr Castleton's place And, in the" absence of their father, who was working at the other end of the farm, the two boys took him to the creek and showed him the spot where the alleged monster was .seen by them. The creek is that which falls into the Waikato at No. 1 Bridge. The course of the stream is exceedingly tortuous ; the amount of water is considerable, and at short intervals there are pools ranging in depth from three to nine feet. The banks are perhapi 40ft. high. Along the side of a small branch creek a path descends to the water, and the cattle are wont to cross here to the paddocks beyond. It was at or near this crossing-place that the strango beast was, as they aver, seen by Mr Gastleton's lads. Both boys arebright and intelligent, and there is nothing in their manner or appearance to justify a suspicion that they have made up a yarn. Going down to the creek they related what they consider their uncanny experience with great circumstantiality And completeness of detail. They describe the animal as having a body about two feet long, with a thick tail about the same length, fthort thick l«ff«, and * l<>np» pointed head and long jaws armed with terriblelooking teeth. Its motion when chasing them was a sort of amble, which one of the lads, going down on all fours, simulated. It was brown in colour, with scales on >t* back. The creature was first seen by the elder boy, Arthur, on Monday morning, and by both at different times on Tuesday. In the course of a conversation with Mr Castleton subsequently, that gentleman said he was naturally sceptical in matters of this kind and, moreover, ho knew that crocodiles and reptiles were not known in New Zealand ; at the same time ho was bound to believe the boys' story, because he placed the utmost faith in their integrity. In company with his man he had carefully searched the creek, but had found nothing, nor could he discover any strangj footprints. That some animal ot a kind not hitherto familiar to the boys had shown itself he did not doubt, and the only conclusion he could come to was that Shakspere was right when he made Hamlet say "There are more things in heaven and earth than aredroamt of." All this sounds oddly, but, as we have already said, it seems impossible to doubt the bona fides of the boys. That they have been deceived we are bound to believe, but what manner of animal it was that led the two boys, at separate times, to the conclusion that it warn an alligator, no less, we will not attempt to conjecture. The Maoris, of course, say it is a Taniwha ; if so its capture would be a stroke of luck. It has been suggested that it in a lizard and, if the excitement can only be kept up, some rational beings may by-and-bye arrive at the conclusion that it is a giraffe.