ST. AUGUSTIN TO BAHAMA ISLANDS 293 



stitching several times through the nostrils and be- 

 neath the under jaw, and he also ties fast the fore and 

 hind feet. Their teeth, to be sure, are not large, but 

 are very sharp ; at times they bite a man's hand, and 

 when they do, they hold so fast that skin and flesh 

 come away together. Bound like this they live many 

 weeks without food. They are very tenacious of life, 

 as are many animals of this class. A guana wjiich I 

 wished to stuff still showed signs of consciousness, 

 after all its vitals had been taken out and it had been 

 quite bled. They climb up the highest trees, and make 

 their food preferably of fruits ; they are said to like 

 especially the fruit of the sapadilla tree ; they are also 

 good swimmers. Their flesh is not distasteful and 

 very white ; it is similar to the meat of fish, and of 

 chickens. 



The Lobster or Hummer of these parts (Cancer 

 Homarus L.) is at the first glance distinguishable from 

 the North American lobster, by its very long horns, 

 heavy and hard, which it carries instead of pincers, 

 and in addition, by its color. It grows almost as large 

 as the North American, and its flesh is white and hard, 

 but very pleasant. They prefer rocky bottoms, and in 

 the very clear water they can be seen crawling about 

 at a considerable depth ; their course is forwards. 

 They are taken by means of a long stick pointed with 

 iron at the end, with which they are stuck under water. 

 By certain of the inhabitants the land-crabs also, the 

 blue crabs, the so-called ' soldiers,' and other kinds of 

 crabs as well, are eaten. The land-crab (Cancer ruri- 

 cola L.) seemed to me a very repulsive mess. They 

 stay in deep holes which they dig in the sand and the 

 bush near the shore often some hundreds of yards 



