I think it might be time to study this song a little more thoroughly. Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index:

Wonderful Crocodile, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, shipwrecked at (La Perouse), encounters the crocodile. He describes its immensity: Five hundred miles long, etc. Blown into its mouth, he lives well on the other things lost inside. At last the beast dies; the singer spends six months escaping
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4288))
KEYWORDS: animal talltale monster sailor
FOUND IN: Australia Ireland US(MW,NE) Britain(England(South,Lond),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 134-135, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 157-159, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 196, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan8 1700, "The Crocodile" (1 text)
Greig #14, p. 1, "The Crocodile" (1 text)
SHenry H231a, p. 28, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 292, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Broadwood/Maitland, pp. 184-185, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 168-170, "The Rummy Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 230-232, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, probably this, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 60, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 498-500, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WONDCROC
Roud #886
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4288), "The Wonderful Crocodile," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also 2806 c.16*(150), Harding B 11(1317), Harding B 11(1141), Harding B 11(4289), Harding B 11(4290), Firth c.12(412), "[The] Wonderful Crocodile
NLScotland, RB.m.143(134), "The Crocodile," Poet's Box (unknown), c.1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
cf. "The Grey Goose" (theme)
SAME TUNE:
End for End Jack (per broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(134))
A Tough Yarn ("Ladies and gents' if you will listen a little while to me") (WolfAmericanSongSheets p. 158)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Rummy Crocodile
NOTES: The similarity to "The Derby Ram" should be obvious. It is also noteworthy that most versions show very little variation; one must suspect a broadside ancestor somewhere. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.5
File: MA134

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2015 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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The version in the Digital Tradition is from American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax:
WONDERFUL CROCODILE (DT)

Come list ye, landsmen, all to me,
To tell the truth I'm bound-
What happened to me by going to sea
And the wonders that l found.
Shipwrecked l was one sappy rouse
And cast all on the shore,
So I resolved to take a cruise,
The country to explore.

cho: To my ri tol tooral loralido,
Ritol looral lay,
To my ri tol lol fol liddle lol de fol
To my tol looral lay.

Oh, l had not long scurried out,
When close alongside the ocean,
'Twas there that I saw something move,
Like all the earth in motion.
While steering close up alongside
l saw it was a crocodile;
From the end of his nose to the tip of his tail
It measured five hundred mile.

This crocodile I could plainly see
Was none of the common race,
For I had to climb a very high tree
Before l could see his face.
And when he lifted up his jaw,
Perhaps you may think it a lie,
But his back was three miles through the clouds
And his nose near touched the sky.

Oh, up aloft the wind was high,
lt blew a hard gale from the south;
l lost my hold and away l flew
Right into the crocodile's mouth.
He quickly closed his jaws on me,
He thought to nab a victim;
But l slipped down his throat, d'ye see,
And that's the way l tricked 'im.

l traveled on for a year or two
Till l got into his maw,
And there were rum kegs not a few
And a thousand bullocks in store.
Through life I banished all my care
For on grub l was not stinted;
And in this crocodile lived ten years,
Very well contented.

This crocodile being very old,
One day at last he died;
He was three years in catching cold,
He was so long and wide.
His skin was three mi!es thick, l'm sure,
Or very ncar about;
For l was full six months or more
In making a hole to get out.

So now l'm safe on earth once more,
Resolved no more to roam.
ln a ship that passed I got a berth,
So now I'm safe at home.
But, if my story you should doubt,
Did you ever cross the Nile
'Twas there he fell---you'll find the shell
Of this wonderful crocodile.

From American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax
@animal @liar @talltale
filename[ WONDCROC
TUNE FILE: WONDCROC
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RG