13'4 ISLES OF SUMME:ft. 



" It is, without douLt, one of llie choicest morsels in nature.*' 

 It formerly was found in immense numbers, and the observation 

 of Du Tertre that they were "a living and perpetual supply of 

 manna in the wilderness, equalled only by the miraculous boun ty 

 of Providence to the children of Israel when wandering in the 

 desert," is said to have been no exaggeration. The Indians re- 

 lied upon them with confidence when all other provisions were 

 scarce, and the supply was always equal to their wants. 



When Edwards wrote it still existed in large numbers, but he 

 thouffht the time of its extinction was then near at hand. 



Du Tertre described them as living in a kind of orderly soci- 

 ety in their retreats in the mountains, and as having annual night 

 marches to the sea, by the shortest and straightest lines, like a 

 well drilled and admirably organized army under able and ex- 

 perienced commanders. The waves relieve the crabs of their 

 sj)awn; the eggs are soon hatched in the sand of the shore, and 

 millions of young crabs, impelled by a power invisible, mys- 

 terious and divine, are soon seen slowly making their way to the 

 mountains. Crowding each other upon the eastern coast of the 

 Atlantic states, the human instinct has to be quickened by the 

 loud clarion notes of command to induce the young men to "go 

 West," but these little crabs seem to be endowed with more 

 practical wisdom, and to push inland of their own accord. 



The hermit crab, a singular and well known species, is com- 

 mon upon the shores of the Bahamas. It has very loose ideas 

 upon the subject of the personal rights of its fellow creatures, 

 and is to the full extent of its capabilities, a first-class freebooter. 

 Having captured a little circular shell fish, it uses the shell of its 

 prisoner to cover and protect the vulnerable portion of its own 

 organism, makes itself perfectly at home in its new but stolen 

 house, occupies it as tenant in common, pays no rent, compels 

 its captive to make all the repairs, and to accompany it on its 

 travels over the rocky shore. 



