Mr. Broderip on the Habits of Paguri, 201 



August 1, 1828, 

 My Dear Sib, 



When I was in Jamaica, about three years since, some of the persons 

 on my estate at Halse Hall, brought rae specimens of Paguri which, they 

 said, they had obtained from a savannah, distant about a quarter of a 

 mile from the house. This savannah is a plain formed of what I have 

 elsewhere termed * savannah sandstone and conglomerate. It is very 

 dry and covered for the most part with log-wood, green ebony, lignum 

 vitse, the Cashaw tree — ^and, here and there, with patches of grasses and 

 other plants. After heavy rains the surface of the ground is nearly 

 covered with herbage : but, after dry weather, a considerable portion of the 

 soil is exposed. The savannah which is of great extent (my portion con- 

 sists of at least two thousand acres) is about thirty feet above the RioMinho, 

 which runs round the border of it, and about two hundred feet above the 

 level of the sea from which it is distant at least ten miles. The tide only 

 penetrates just within the mouth of the river and rises there about eleven 

 inches at the height of the springs, so that there is not even brackish 

 water at a nearer point than ten miles. When the Paguri were brought 

 to me they were alive, and I observed they were housed in marine shells, 

 and at first thought that they must have been brought from the sea. Upon 

 enquiry, however, I found that these animals, under the name of 

 "soldiers," were frequently taken alive for food in the savannah, to 

 which I immediately proceeded. On its northern side and at its junction 

 with the hill which rises above it, I found in the little hollows of the white 

 limestone several of these Paguri, all in marine shells, and in full health 

 and activity. I afterwards learnt that they were by no means uncommon 

 in such situations all over the Island. When I saw them there had been 

 a good deal of wet weather. They were in moist places but there were 

 no pools of water. 



"last, cease. The spirit of useful inquiry seems to be awakened in the Island, 

 and some gentlemen in London connected with the West Indies have already set 

 on foot a plan for investigating the Natural History of Jamaica and the capabilities 

 of its soil and climate. They deserve the thanks and co-operation of every 

 lover of science, and, if they succeed, they will confer a benefit upon their 

 country. 



* Geol. Trans. Vol. II. p. 182, new series. 



Vol. IV. . o 



