152 THE SEA. 



slightly smaller than himself, and was then himself attacked and eaten by a companion, 

 realising the old adage concerning fleas 



" And these have smaller still to bite 'em, 

 And so proceed, ad injinltum." 



Some crustaceans, however, adopt a vegetable diet. The Robber Crab of the Polynesian Islands 

 can not merely open a cocoa-nut, but also enjoy its contents. The crab begins by tearing 

 off the fibre at the extremity where the fruit is, always choosing the right hand. When 

 this is removed, it strikes it with its great claws until an opening is made; it then 

 inserts its slender claws, and by wriggling and turning itself about removes the contents 

 of the nut. 



The proper mode of boiling crabs has long been a subject on which doctors have 

 disagreed. Who, then, shall decide ? That there is cruelty associated with the taking away 

 of life it would be hard to deny, but the correctness of choice between gradual stewing 

 in slowly-heated water and being plunged at once into the seething, bubbling cauldron 

 requires "the revelations of a boiled crab" to clear up; and until a crustacean pro- 

 duction under that or a like title appears, we shall continue to plunge our armour-clad 

 victims in water at 212 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, and leave the question as to 

 the propriety of our so doing to those who are disposed to grapple with the subject for 

 its own sake. 



The West India Islands possess in the Land Crab (Gecarcinus ruricola) a kind of 

 crustacean highlander, who retreats into the uplands at certain times in the year. " As the 

 spawning season approaches a mighty gathering of the clans takes place, and whole legions, 

 unwarned by fiery cross or blazing beacon, hasten forth to join the living tide flowing onward 

 towards the sea. Through the tangled jungle, down the rock-strewed ravine, over fallen tree- 

 trunks, and among the dense undergrowth of the forest, in ceaseless, creeping, crawling, 

 scuttling thousands, still they come onward, and ever onward, as the bright stars shine out 

 to light them on their way. Banks, hedges, walls, and even houses, are passed straight over 

 in this crustacean steeplechase, no flags being needed to keep the mail-clad competitors to 

 the true course. Instinct the guide, and the blue sea for a goal, nothing stops the race. 



"Cuffee and his companions, who have been gossiping and story-telling beneath their 

 cocoa-leaf roofs until half asleep, appear to become most violent and incurable lunatics, on 

 suddenly becoming aware of the nocturnal exodus. They leap high in the air, shout, scream, 

 and dance like fiends, whilst the most ready-witted of the crew dash off to ' de massa ' with 

 the startling news. ' Hi, golly, sa ! de crab ! de crab ! He come for sure, this time, sure 

 'miff . Plenty catch um bime by ; ' and Cuffee keeps his word to the letter, and captures the 

 pilgrims by the basketful, in spite of their claws. And black-faced, woolly-headed Aunt 

 Lilly, the cook, shows her teeth, like ivory dominoes in an ebony box, as visions of white- 

 snow-like rice, cocoa-nut milk, capsicum-pods, and stewpans, pass in pleasing and appetising 

 review before her ; and ' massa ' himself takes an extra pull at the cold-sangaree jug, sleeps 

 pleasantly, and dreams of the crab-feast on the morrow." 



The King Crab of the eastern seas grows sometimes to an enormous size, while the lance- 

 shaped spear with which he is furnished is used by the Malays as a warlike instrument. 

 Then, for a contrast, there's the little nut-crab, with his queer little legs tucked up under his 



