230 THE WORLD'S LUMBER ROOM. 



unsaleable fish, as well as with the offal resulting from the 

 processes of skinning and dressing often performed there 

 by fishermen. As it is, however, the crabs arrive in such 

 myriads and work so busily that by the next tide hardly 

 a trace of anything unpleasant remains, though bones 

 picked perfectly clean may be seen strewing the sand 

 in numbers, showing how abundant the banquet has 

 been. 



The Spider-crab, assisted by others of different species, 

 sets to work boldly, holding on to the fish with one claw 

 and with the other tearing off the flesh and conveying it to 

 its mouth with the regularity of clockwork, or of a Chinaman 

 plying his chopsticks. So strong and sharp are its claws that 

 no muscle is tough enough to withstand them, and the fish 

 bones are cleaned as thoroughly as if they had been scraped 

 by a knife. But in the process, a number of minute frag- 

 ments are detached, which, though too small for the large 

 pincers of the crab, would yet make their presence very 

 unpleasantly felt if they were left to decay. This, however, 

 is not the fate of these tiny scraps, for the crab carries with 

 it a whole army of lesser scavengers, for which this mince- 

 meat is exactly adapted. These are various small zoophytes, 

 such as the sea-fir, &c., which attach themselves to its 

 armour, sometimes in such numbers as to entirely cover 

 both body and limbs, and thus are always on the spot to 

 clear up the relics of the feast. Crabs will devour any kind 

 of animal food that comes in their way, and on the desolate 

 St. Paul's Rocks, which are tenanted only by countless 

 multitudes of sea-birds, they quickly pick the bones of 

 any dead individual. 



