these were the pair I found first. The male was 

 easily the largest of the catch. 



For some inexplicable reason, a migration of 

 these spider-crabs had been in progress. Whether 

 the Hyas horde had left their usual haunts be- 

 cause of a biological urge or of some cataclysmical 

 submarine event was impossible, from this limited 

 observation, even vaguely to surmise. I do no 

 more than merely state the fact of this occurrence. 

 I cannot explain it. Never since have I seen them 

 in such numbers. 



Night, however, eventually nearing the end, 

 marked a gradual diminution in the numbers of 

 the spider-crabs and in those of the other transient 

 multitudes which had sought the shallows of the 

 shore. But I had been so absorbed by the business 

 of the expedition that my first intimation of im- 

 pending dawn did not come until a starling's song 

 was wafted to my ears. Only then did we call it 

 what it was, so to speak — a night's work — and 

 decide to go home. 



After loading our little boat with our collection 

 of animals and our paraphernalia, we covered with 

 sand the dying embers of our fire, and finally 

 pulled away from the shore. The moon, now pale 



[219] 



