104 HISTORY OF THE [BOOK i. 



" of the water, and lets the waves wash over its body 

 " two or three times to wash off the spawn. The 

 " eggs are hatched under the sand; and soon after, 

 " millions at a time of the new-born crabs, are seen 

 " quitting the shore, and slowly travelling up to the 

 " mountains." 



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 i. 



So far Du Tertre, as copied by Goldsmith. What 

 follows, is from Brown's History of Jamaica. " The 

 * f old crabs having disburdened themselves" (as above) 

 generally regain their habitations in the mountains 

 by the latter end of June. In August they begin 

 " to fatten, and prepare for moulting ; filling up their 

 " burrows with dry grass, leaves, and abundance of 

 " other materials. When the proper period comes, 

 " each retires to his hole, shuts up the passage, and 

 " remains quite inactive until he gets rid of his old 

 " shell, and is fully provided with a new one. How 

 " long they continue in this state is uncertain, but 

 " the shell is first observed to burst at the back 

 *' and the sides, to give a passage to the body, and 

 " the animal extracts its limbs from all the other parts 

 " gradually afterwards. At this time the flesh is in 

 " the richest state, and covered only with a tender 

 " membranous skin, variegated with a multitude of 

 " reddish veins, but this hardens gradually, and soon 

 becomes a perfect shell like the former. It is how- 

 ever remarkable that, during this change there are 

 some stony concretions always formed in the bag, 

 " which waste and dissolve as the creature forms and 

 " perfects its new crust/' 







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