THE SCHOOL OF THE SHORE 25 



habit much for protection, for their thick, 

 hard shell covers the gills and prevents 

 evaporation; they are sufficiently active to be 

 able to get to a pool or a sheltered crevice 

 under a rock whenever occasion arises; and 

 their strong claws and pugnacious spirit are 

 enough to keep off most enemies except still 

 bigger crabs. Some of the other members of 

 the family, however, such as the burrowing 

 prawns, tunnel in the sand near low-tide 

 mark, and live an almost underground life. 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE SHORE 



A haunt with a crowded population of all 

 sorts and sizes, a haunt where the most con- 

 stant thing is change, a haunt bristling with 

 difficulties and hemmed in by limitations; 

 there is bound to be much struggle on the 

 shore. But we should try to make it clear to 

 ourselves that the " struggle for existence " is 

 a technical phrase which includes much more 

 than a life-and-death competition around the 

 platter, much more than what we get a sym- 

 bol of when the pigs elbow and jostle one 

 another at the feeding-trough ; it includes all 

 the answers-back that living creatures make 



