THE POGGE. 191 



fore took liold with tlie other claw also, and soon bit 

 the body into two pieces, which continued to writhe 

 and wriggle to the last. The giant's dinner in this 

 instance lasted about an hour. 



The Crabs are the scavengers of the sea ; like the 

 wolves and hyaenas of the land, they devour indis- 

 criminately dead and living prey. The bodies of all 

 sorts of dead creatures are removed by the obscene 

 appetite of these greedy Crustacea ; and there is no 

 doubt that many an enormous Crab, whose sapidity 

 elicits praise at the epicure's table, has rioted on the 

 decaying body of some unfortunate mariner. But 

 what of that ? Let us imitate the philosophy of the 

 negro mentioned by Captain Crow. On the Guinea 

 Coast people are buried beneath their own huts, and 

 the Land-crabs are seen crawling in and out of holes 

 in the floor with revolting familiarity : notwithstand- 

 ing which, they are caught and eaten with avidity. 

 A negro, with w^hom the worthy Captain remonstrated 

 on the subject, seemed to think this but a reasonable 

 and just retaliation, a sort of payment in kind ; reply- 

 ing w4th a grin and chuckle of triumph : — " Crab eat 

 black man ; black man eat heT'' 



THE POGGE. 



An " odd fish," rejoicing in the elegant cognomen 

 of Pogge among the vulgar, but known to the scientific 

 votaries of sesquipedalianism by the title of Aspido- 

 "pliorus cataji^lir actus ^"^ is occasionally found lurking 



* This little unconscious fisli has as many aliases as a house- 

 breaker, to say nothing of his hang-gallows look. According to Mr. 

 Yarrell's list of synonymes, he is the Ai'med Bullhead, the Pogge, 



