151 THE SEA. 



heave the beggars to Davy Jones's locker. Overboard is where I means to pitch 'em.' And 

 so he did, no doubt to the intense gratification of the falsely-accused crabs." 



The Hermit, or Soldier, Crab, with the exception of a kind of cuirass, or head-piece, has 

 a soft, yielding skin. Knowing his own weakness, he invariably entrenches himself in some 

 safe place, not unfrequently emptying the shell of some other marine animal. "When he 

 outgrows his borrowed habitation he looks out for some larger dwelling. He is a very 

 timid creature, and retires at the least alarm. On the other hand, among his kind he is. 

 sti'ong, voracious, and cruel. Two hermit crabs cannot meet without a fight brewing, but 

 it rarely comes off. " Each extends his long pincers, and seems to try to touch the other, 

 much as a spider does, when it seeks to seize a fly on its most vulnerable side ; but each 

 finding the other armed in proof and perfectly protected, though eager to fight, usually adopts 

 the better part of valour, and prudently withdraws. They often have true passages of arms, 

 nevertheless, in which claws are spread out and displayed in the most threatening manner, 

 the two adversaries tumbling head over heels, and rolling one upon the other, but they get 

 more frightened than hurt." Mr. Gosse, however, describes a struggle which had a tragic 

 end. A hermit met a brother hermit pleasantly lodged in a shell much more spacious than 

 his own. He seized it by the head with his powerful claws, tore it from its asylum with 

 the speed of lightning, and took its place not less promptly, leaving the dispossessed unfor- 

 tunate struggling on the sand in convulsions of agony. " Our battles/' says Bonnet, "have 

 rarely such important objects in view ; they fight each other for a house/' A young poet 

 of to-day* sings of our wars 



" Tell me, tell me, is this glory ? 



Is it honour, is it fame ? 

 Has mankind, through ages hoary, 



Given to war its fitting name ? 

 Twist it, turn it, warp it, bind it, 



Greet its triumphs with acclaim, 

 Yet at last the world will find it 



Only murder, all the same ! " 



Both crabs and lobsters are amazingly prolific, and lay an enormous number of 

 eggs: it is computed that each female produces from 12,000 to 20,000 in a season; and 

 yet these shell-fish are always dear in London ! In France, Figuier tells us, the size 

 of the marketable lobster is regulated by law, and fixed at a minimum of eight inches 

 in length : all under that length are contraband. The London market is supplied from 

 every part of our coasts, and very largely from Norway. At Kamble, near Southampton, 

 one owner has storing-ponds, or tanks, for 50,000 at a time; and he has his own smacks 

 constantly running to the coasts of France, Scotland, and Ireland. 



The Lobster (Homarus inlyaris} is found in great abundance all round our coasts. Who 

 that has frequented our seaside watering-places has not either gone out to assist in hauling 

 up the lobster-pots, or, at all events, seen the fishermen returning with their spoils ? And 

 what can be finer than a lobster boiled, say not more than half an hour after his capture 

 from the briny ? He tastes very unlike the poor creature which has been conveyed by boat 



* Louis Cecil. 



