Never smile at a crocodile....

M R James - the doyen of ghost stories - begins his story "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook" thus.....

St. Bertrand de Comminges is a decayed town on the spurs of the Pyrenees, not very far from Toulouse, and still nearer to Bagnères-de-Luchon. It was the site of a bishopric until the Revolution, and has a cathedral which is visited by a certain number of tourists. In the spring of 1883 an Englishman arrived at this old-world place -- I can hardly dignify it with the name of city, for there are not a thousand inhabitants.

This is a good scary story - which ends with the Englishman pursued by an awful creature. In the story, James mentions a dusty, stuffed crocodile.

Today I went in pursuit of it - visiting St Bertrand. what an amazing cathedral! And yes, here is the very animal. Probably brought back as a votive offering by a visitor to the Holy Land, rather than being slain by the 12th century saint who founded the cathedral, as the legend suggests.