25i 



HARDWICKE'S SC lENCE-GOS SIP. 



yellowisli-browii colour, about two feet in length, 

 and when walking is elevated nearly a foot above 

 the ground on its four principal legs. It forms 

 deep burrows and intricate excavations in the sand 

 underneath the roots of the palm-trees, and when 

 once in its hole is by no means easy to dislodge. 

 Its principal food consists of cocoa-nuts, and it is 

 even said to climb the tall trees, in order to procure 

 its favourite delicacy. But this report lacks con- 

 firmation, and rests principally, if not altogether, on 

 the statements of the natives, who are no doubt as 

 proud of their crabs and their achievements, as a 

 Londoner of his " lions " and their peculiarities ; 

 and not without reason, for as we have said, B. latro 

 is a most interesting and eccentric individual, 

 especially with reference to cocoa-nuts. Now it 

 must be clearly understood that when pendent from 

 their native boughs, the nuts do not present 

 exactly the same appearance as when artificially 

 fixed on the extremities of sticks to be knocked 

 down by " good shots " at so much a throw. In 

 its original state the nut is enclosed in a 'fibrous 

 envelope of great strength and toughness, so much 

 so, that any other than the Robber Crab might well 

 despair of being able to tear it open. But by him 

 the task is accomplished with ease ; his muscular 

 claws make short work of the cocoa-nut fibres, and 

 after a few vigorous efforts, the coveted nut is 

 successfully extracted. But even at this stage the 

 operation is only partially accomplished, for the 

 milky substance is still inclosed by a thick shell,— 

 a shell, which but for a little natural help would 

 prove a poser even to B. latro. In point of fact 

 appearances are deceptive, and the barrier seem- 

 ingly so strong, has at least three weak points ; 

 namely the depressions at one end of the nut, which 

 are supposed to bear some resemblance to a 

 monkey's face. It is not necessary to affirm that 

 these depressions were placed there solely for the 

 convenience of the Robber Crab, but they are none 

 the less of the highest importance to him. With 

 two or three well-directed blows from his larger 

 claws, he contrives to break through the shell at 

 one of these spots, and then, inserting one of the 

 smaller limbs, he works it round and round in the 

 interior of the nut and thus manages to scoop out 

 the juicy contents. What a comical spectacle 

 must they present, — the crab and the cocoa-nut ! 

 We can almost picture it for ourselves : a sandy 

 beach overshadowed by pleasant palms, and washed 

 by the waters of the broad lagoon ; a number of 

 curious-looking creatures, some scuttling over the 

 strand bearing aloft in their claws the precious 

 wind-falls, others busily husking and tapping them. 

 But the Robber Crab has an eye for future use, as 

 well as for present enjoyment, and does not care to 

 throw away valuable material as mere refuse. 

 When he has regaled .himself to his heart's content 

 on the sweets contained in the nut, he carefully 



collects the torn pieces of the outer husk, and works 

 them about between his claws, until they are 

 reduced to the consistency of tow or oakum. After 

 carding the fibre, the next operation is to transport 

 and deposit it in some far-removed corner of his 

 burrowed habitation beneath the sand, where it 

 serves him as a [couch during the periods of moult- 

 ing or shell-changing. These moultings are trials 

 to which all crabs and lobsters are subject. They 

 are necessary, because the shell once formed never 

 grows larger, and consequently so long as the 

 animal within is increasing in size, it continually 

 needs fresh shells. Crabs find the process of cast- 

 ing the old covering very unpleasant, inasmuch as 

 it renders them completely helpless for a few days. 

 The carded cocoa-nut forms no doubt a soft and 

 comfortable mat for B. latro, when he has shed his 

 old coat, and is waiting until a new covering shall 

 have hardened about his defenceless limbs. The 

 flesh of the Robber is considered a delicacy by the 

 inhabitants of the Samoan group of islands, who 

 accordingly make organized expeditions to hunt 

 him, — if hunting it can be called, for the only method 

 of capture is by digging deep down into the bur- 

 rows. Even then the task is no easy one; a crab 

 unearthed is not a crab disarmed, and when appar- 

 ently strongly bound, it will often snap the restrain- 

 ing cords with the strength of a Hercules, and 

 " skedaddle," — a very expressive word, when used 

 for the movements of this creature. The islanders 

 have another object in opening the nests of the 

 "Ou-Ou," as they call B. latro,— the appropriation 

 of the stores of carded fibre, already mentioned ; 

 this they use to calk the seams of their canoes, 

 and for other domestic purposes. 



The Robber Crab does not subsist wholly on cocoa- 

 nuts, nor reside all the i ear round in holes excavated 

 beneath the sand ; at certain seasons he finds it 

 expedient, for reasons which we have stated before, 

 to change his domicile, and take a trip to the " salt- 

 sea wave." At such seasons he finds the benefit 

 derived from a bath in the billows considerably 

 enhanced by a change of diet ; so he lives, like an 

 epicure, on shell-fish. It is a sad time for the 

 mollusca in the immediate vicinity of his marine 

 residence. Every day a number of hapless indi- 

 viduals are taken from the scene of their daily 

 vocations, and their sorrowing acquaintance see 

 their forms no more — themselves perhaps destined 

 to disappear in a similar fashion on the morrow, — 

 and all to glut the appetite of a Robber Crab. 

 What terror contorts their miserable snail-faces 

 when they hear of the arrival of the mighty Mol- 

 luscophagus ; how they long for the good old times 

 when each could sit in safety under his own fig-tree, 

 and his own vine, or, to speak more correctly, 

 beneath his own seaweed, and in his private pool ! 

 But such regrets are vaiu ; the enemy is upon 

 them, and however closely they may shut the door 



