A NATURALIST. 91 



sibly be surmounted. During the day-time they 

 skulk and lie hid as closely as possible, but thou- 

 sands upon thousands of them are taken for the use 

 of the table, by whites and blacks, as on their sea- 

 ward march they are very fat, and of fine flavour. 

 On the homeward journey, those that have escaped 

 capture are weak, exhausted, and unfit for use. Be- 

 fore dismissing the crabs, I must mention one which 

 was a source of much annoyance to me at first, and 

 of considerable interest afterwards, from the obser- 

 vation of its habits. At that time I resided in a 

 house delightfully situated about two hundred yards 

 from the sea, fronting the setting sun, having in 

 clear weather the lofty mountains of Porto Rico, 

 distant about eighty miles, in view. Like most of 

 the houses in the island, ours had seen better days, 

 as was evident from various breaks in the floors, 

 angles rotted off the doors, sunken sills, and other 

 indications of decay. Our sleeping room, which was 

 on the lower floor, was especially in this condition ; 

 but as the weather was delightfully warm, a few 

 cracks and openings, though rather large, did not 

 threaten much inconvenience. Our bed was pro- 

 vided with that indispensable accompaniment, a mus- 

 quito bar or curtain, to which we were indebted for 

 escape from various annoyances. Scarcely had we 

 extinguished the light, and composed ourselves to 

 rest, when we heard, in various parts of the room, 

 the most startling noises. It appeared as if nume- 

 rous hard and heavy bodies were trailed along the 

 floor then they sounded as if climbing up by the 



