5 8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF 



abode and shuffled about on the table in a most 

 awkward fashion. 



" That is the best way of forcing it to give up 

 possession," said Le*on. " Treated in any other way it 

 is so obstinate that it would allow itself to be torn in 

 pieces rather than quit. Obstinacy, however, is one 

 of the least of its faults. 



" It makes its debut, when still young, by an 

 assassination. Scarcely out of its cradle, it seeks a 

 shell of fitting size and instals itself therein, after 

 having as a fit preliminary devoured the owner. Then, 

 undeterred by any remorse, it starts to seek its fortune, 

 pillaging on all sides after the manner of the troopers 

 and freebooters of the good old times." 



" A hermit certainly very like a vagabond ; but, 

 when his shelter becomes too small, what happens ? " 



" He settles the matter at once by stealing another. 

 Probably at first he took possession of a Turbo shell ; 

 now that he is stronger it is probably the shell of a 

 whelk or Buccinum that he seizes. The hermit does 

 not allow himself to be embarrassed by so trifling a 

 matter. I am acquainted with a collection in which 

 there is a hermit that was found in the tropics, and 

 has taken up his abode in a great helmet shell, such 

 as you may see in the window of a natural history 

 dealer. The claws of this hermit measured more than 

 eight inches. 



" The animal is by no means one of restricted tastes, 



