A XATURALISJ 87 



NO. VIII. 



The fleet running crab (cypoda pugilator,) mentioned 

 as living in burrows dug in a moist soil, and preying 

 chiefly on the sugar cane, is justly regarded as one of the 

 most noxious pests that can infest a plantation. Their 

 burrows extend to a great depth, and run in various di- 

 rections ; they are also, like those of our fiddlers, nearly 

 full of muddy water, so that, when these marauders once 

 plump into their dens, they may be considered as entirely 

 beyond pursuit. Their numbers are so great, and they 

 multiply in such numbers, as in some seasons to destroy 

 a large proportion of a sugar crop, and sometimes their 

 ravages, combined with those of the rats and other plun- 

 derers, are absolutely ruinous to the sea-side planters. I 

 was shown, by the superintendent of a place thus infest- 

 ed, a great quantity of cane utterly killed by these crea- 

 tures, which cut it off hi a peculiar manner, in order to 

 suck the juice ; and he assured me that, during that sea- 

 son, the crop would be two thirds less than its average, 

 solely owing to the inroads of the crabs, and rats, which 

 if possible are still more numerous. It was to me an ir- 



