CHAPTER 



14 



DUR GHELLA AND ITS 

 INHABITANTS 



THE inhabitants of Dur Ghella are numerous, but they 

 are not human; they are crabs, round crabs, white or 

 yellow crabs according to age with two little ruby eyes and 

 a sort of antenna-periscope. Sometimes as big as a fist, they 

 are called grandly 'Pyramid Crabs', but they have nothing 

 to do with the Pyramids. 



When our boat touched the great beach on the east for 

 the first time we were amazed to find an army of these 

 creatures running all over the place, awkwardly but at high 

 speed. Then they disappeared, each one like a mouse into its 

 own hole. Beside every hole there was a little hill of sand, a 

 regular cone, a 'pyramid' that might have been built by a 

 child. We had read about these crabs and pyramids but had 

 never imagined that on one beach we should see so many 

 'sea sweepers'. And in fact, the beach was a picture of 

 cleanliness. 



As we landed we felt we were being spied on from a 

 thousand holes. We looked around, squinting against the 

 blinding light of the coral beach (which was completely 

 white or faintly pink in parts) and saw a multitude of intent, 

 inquisitive, red pupils. Only the antenna-periscopes were 

 sticking out of the round holes under the pyramids. 



