A NATURALIST. 81 



No. VII. 



ON the first arrival of the crabs, when they throng 

 the shoals of the creeks in vast crowds, as heretofore 

 mentioned, a very summary way of taking them is 

 resorted to by the country people, and for a purpose 

 that few would suspect, without having witnessed it. 

 They use a three-pronged fork or gig, made for this 

 sport, attached to a long handle; the crabber, stand- 

 ing up in the skin 7 , pushes it along until he is over a 

 large collection of crabs, and then strikes his spear 

 among them. By this several are transfixed at once, 

 and lifted into the boat, and the operation is repeated 

 until enough have been taken. The purpose to which 

 they are to be applied is to feed the hogs, which very 

 soon learn to collect in waiting upon the beach, when 

 the crab spearing is going on. Although these bristly 

 gentry appear to devour almost all sorts of food with 

 great relish, it seemed to me that they regarded the 

 crabs as a most luxurious banquet; and it was truly 

 amusing to see the grunters, when the crabs were 

 thrown on shore for them, and were scampering off 

 in various directions, seizing them in spite of their 

 threatening claws, holding them down with one foot, 

 and speedily reducing them to a state of helplessness 

 by breaking off their forceps. Such a crunching 

 and cracking of the unfortunate crabs I never have 

 witnessed since; and I might have commiserated 



