The Memoirs of Bābur 932.10.7

932.10.7

One is the water-tiger (P. _shīr-ābī_, _Crocodilus palustris_).[1820] This is in the standing-waters. It is like a lizard (T. _gīlās_).[1821] People say it carries off men and even buffaloes. The (P.) _siyāh-sār_ (black-head) is another. This also is like a lizard. It is in all rivers of Hindūstān. One that was taken and brought in was about 4-5 _qārī_ (_cir._ 13 feet) long and as thick perhaps as a sheep. It is said to grow still larger. Its snout is over half a yard long. It has rows of small teeth in its upper and lower jaws. It comes out of the water and sinks into the mud (_bātā_). The (Sans.) _g[h]aṛīāl_ (_Gavialus gangeticus_) is another.[1822] It is said to grow large; many in the army saw it in the Sarū (Gogra) river. It is said to take people; while we were on that river's banks (934-935 A.H.), it took one or two slave-women (_dādūk_), and it took three or four camp-followers between Ghāzīpūr and Banāras. In that neighbourhood I saw one but from a distance only and not quite clearly.