DMT-36

Update — The Crocodile From Paris

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Sandy Hobbs and David Cornwell | Dear Mister Thoms # 36, 1994

Sandy Hobbs and David Cornwell
(With thanks to Veronique Campion-Vincent)

Regular readers or Dear Mr Thoms… may be aware that we have carried a number of short pieces referring to a crocodile found in the sewers of Paris. Some conversations with Veronique Campion-Vincent which took place at this year's Conference on Contemporary Legend made us feel that these should be consolidated and commented upon.

First, in DMT 25, there appe<tred, courtesy of Veronique Campion-Vincent, the text in French of two newspaper articles describing the capture of a crocodile by sewer workers in Paris. We did not attribute these articles at that time. They appeared in France-Soir, 3 March 1984 and 10 March 1984.

In DMT 26, there was a report from David Cornwell that the aquarium at Vannes, Brittany, has on display a Nile Crocodile which it says was found in the sewers of Paris.

DMT 28 contained an extract from an article on the Paris sewers as a tourist attraction, found by Bill Nicolaisen, in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. A key sentence, referring to sewer employees, read:

They say they have also found pet snakes which escaped down lavatories, and a crocodile that was flushed down as a buaby and survived to become fully grown.

The second half of this sentence, though brief, is pretty much the "classic" version of The Alligator in the Sewer" legend, except, of course, that it is a crocodile and in Paris.

If we assume that all of these items have a common reference point, then to read them side by side is instructive. The Scottish newspaper article refers to the capture of a fully grown animal flushed down the toilet when a baby. However, the French articles which are pretty much contemporary with the actual capture refer quite explicitly to a "jeune" (young) and "bébé" (baby) crocodile. Its length is given as RO centimetres (around 30 inches). Thus it was not fully grown when captured.

But where did it come from? One of the difficulties about believing the "flushed down the lavatory" part of the Alligator in the Sewer story is wondering how anyone can know that part of the creature's history. France-Soir refers more delicately to New Yorkers releasing crocodiles "avec l'eau du bain" (with the bath water). However, it does not offer that explanation for the Parisian crocodile, writing only of it being "abandonné par ses mâitres" (abandonned by its masters).

France-Soir does give us one clue which might indicate that the crocodile got into the sewer by non-legendary means. The sewer where it was captured lies under the Quai de la Megisserie. This street by the River Seine is renowned for two kinds of shops — those selling plants, and those selling animals. Some of the animals one can see on display are relatively exotic. An escape from a pet shop may be less dramatic than a flush down a lavatory, but it is surely a more likely beginning to this crocodile story.

One further French newspaper clipping has come to hand, from Le Telegramme, 12 December 1992. According to the author, Alain Le Bloas, after its capture the crocodile spent two years in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. (Despite its name, this is a zoo as well as a Botanic Garden.) It was then transferred to the Aquarium at Vannes where it is the star attraction. It has now grown to 1.8 metres (well over five feet) in length. It has been given the name Lacoste.

Le Bloas sheds no more light on how it got into the sewer, other than speculating that it was a pet brought from abroad which had grown too large to continue living in an apartment. However, he pictures Lacoste as having been "liberated" in the subterranean jungle. No hint of flushing toilets or bath water.

Le Parc de Montsouris

/ kevinhobbs

Jean-Bruno Renard | Dear Mr. Thoms # 36, 1994

Below are extracts from (A) a book by Dominique Camus (1992) and (B) a book by Jacques Hillairet (1956). Both relate the anecdote. Hillairet seems the more skeptical (“It is said”).

A. Parc Montsouris. The creation of this park is due to a wish of Napoleon III and of Haussmann to establish a large gree space in a popular quarter. Haussmann cose this waste ground, full of stone quarries and windmills, and, between 1865 and 1869, 16 hectares were laid out in the English style much in vogue during the Second Empire. Alphand, who designed the park… created an undulating garden with paths twisting and meandering around cascades, and a large artificial lake. The park was inaugurated by the Emperor in 1869 and the lake, which was to an extent the jewel of the park, was filled with water for the big day but – by accident or through defective workmanship – it emptied suddenly. The engineer who had conceived it, not being able to bear this indignity, committed suicide like Vatel at Chantilly, who could not get over spoiling the king’s lunch because of the delayed arrival of the fish.
(Camus, Dominque, Paris. Paris: Arthaud, 1992, p 571)

B, Le parc de Montsouris. The park of 16 hectares, the largest in Paris after the one at Buttes-Chaumont, is the work of Alphand, it was completed in 1878… It contains an artificial lake almost a hectare in size, the digging of which began in 1869. On the day the park was inaugurated, this lake emptied, it is said, because of a construction fault; its originator committed suicide.

Footnotes

Sandy Hobbs

The Story Spreads: A further and recent example of the story in tourist literature is to be found in this entry on the Parc Montsouris in the Berkeley Guide France written by students from the University of California (New York: Fodor, 1994, page 93):

“…Just so you know, the pond magically emptied on the park’s opening day, and the designing engineer consequently committed suicide.”

Vatel’s Suicide: From the entry on Vatel in Larousse Gastronomique (London: Mandarin, 1990, pp 1352-1353):

“In April 1671 the Prince of Conde entrusted with the task of organizing a fete in honour of Louis XIV, with 3000 guests. The celebrations began on a Thursday evening; in the course of the supper following a hunting party, several tables lacked roast meat because a number of unexpected guests turned up. Later, the planned fireworks display was spoiled by the cloudy sky. These incidents, which were recounted by Madame de Sevgne in a letter of 26 April, persuaded Vatel that his hnour was lost. Learning at dawn that only two loads of fresh fish ordered for the meals of the day had arrived, he gave way to despair: declaring ‘I shall not survive the disgrace,’ he shut himself in his room and ran his sword through his body, at the very moment when the fish carts were entering the castle gates.”

This particular suicide story may have a solid foundation in history, but the irony of the arrival of the fish carts surely has the flavor of legend about it.

Built on Seven Hills 3

/ kevinhobbs

Sandy Hobbs | Dear Mr. Thoms # 36, 1994

In DMT 25 and 33, we noted that a number of cases where towns were said, like Rome, to be built on seven hills. One of the was Aberdeen, Scotland, for which we can now provide a recent text. In 1994, the city of Aberdeen has been commemorating the two hundred anniversary of thelaying out of its main street, Union Street. A publicity brochure, News 200, carries the following passage:

“St Katherine’s Hill is variously claimed as one of the three hills of Aberdeen (for the three towers on the City Arms) and the seven hills of the city making Aberdeen the equivalent of Rome”.

To Aberdeen, Bath, Glasgow, Lisbon , Plovdiv and Sheffield can be added Edinburgh. The AA Touring Guide to Britain (1979), pp 218-219 has as Tour 100, “The City on Seven Hills”: “Seven hilltops guarded by a massive castle carry Edinburgh, the Athens of the North”.

After the comparison with Athens, the authors presumably thought it better not to add a comparison with Rome. However, they do add something which casts some doubt on the “seven hills” image:

“Until 200 years ago the great centre of culture and learning was little more than a cluster of houses along the Royal Mile, a cobbled slope that follows a windy ridge from Castle Hill to the Palace of Holyrood.”