CRABS. 55 



keeping a very bright eye on tliu ciir, wlio rushes pell- 

 mell after him through the ca los, cheered on by the 

 shouts and '•' Ya, ya's " of his rable master, whose aim 

 it is to head back the Crab, or ] in him "with his spike. 

 This latter feat he all but accomplishes ; but the Crab 

 darts like lightning a couple of feet backwards, and 

 then shoots off at right angles with the agility of a 

 sprite. One more rapid dart in the opposite direction, 

 the spike is furiously hurled by baffled Cuffee, and is 

 within an inch of transfixing the cur, who sniffs and 

 whines disconsolately at the mouth of a hole, which 

 leads he knows not whither. 



When hunting amongst the grass jungles of the 

 Mahratta country, we were greatly amused at the 

 quaint proceedings of a species of Crab wliich at 

 certain seasons abounds there. These little fellows, 

 members of the genus Thelpliusa, were, when we saw 

 them, busily engaged in their hay harvest, and actively 

 engaged in mowing the grass. This they did in the 

 most curiously quaint and elfish manner, sitting bolt 

 upright and working their sharp scissors like nippers 

 right and left, until enough to form a bundle had been 

 gathered ; then, with this, compactly rolled up in sheafs, 

 off they would trot to their holes, and when the lon.d 

 had been safely disposed of, back they would scuttle for 

 others with quite as much bustle, fuss, and excitement 

 as if they had been the owners of a large estate, a hun- 



