52 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



The fun was not over yet. A third hermit-crab was 

 placed in the vase. He was much smaller than the 

 other two, but his shell was larger than the one in 

 which Kean had settled, as that unscrupulous crab 

 quickly perceived, for he set about bullying the stran- 

 ger, who, however, had a shell large enough to admit 

 his whole body, and into it he withdrew. It was droll 

 to see Kean clutching the shell, vainly waiting for the 

 stranger to protrude enough of his body to permit of 

 a good grasp and a tug ; but the stranger knew better. 

 He must have been worn out at last, however, for 

 although I did not witness the feat, an hour afterwards 

 I saw Kean comfortable in the stranger's house. They 

 were changed again ; but again the usurpation was 

 successful. On the third day I find recorded in my 

 journal : " The crabs have been fighting, and changing 

 their abodes continually. C. K. is the terror of the 

 other two, and Wigan is so subdued by constant de- 

 feats that he is thrown into a fluster if even an empty 

 shell is placed near him ; and although without a shell 

 himself, which must make him very cold and comfort- 

 less in the terminal regions, he is afraid to enter an 

 empty one. The terrors of the last two days have 

 been too much for his nerves : one must almost ques- 

 tion his perfect sanity ; he is not oidy beside his shell, 

 but beside himself The approach of C. K. throws him 

 into a trepidation, which expresses itself in the most 

 grotesque efforts at escape." 



A new experiment was tried. Throwing a good- 

 sized whelk into the vase, I waited to see Kean devour 



