100 SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 



within, who instantly, of course, glued itself to the 

 glass with immoveable firmness. I suppose the 

 same thing must have frequently occurred without 

 my knowledge, for after a lapse of several days the 

 Pagurus and his bearer were still in the same spot. I 

 felt a growing alarm for the continued health of the 

 Hermit-Crab, from the fact of its being poised so 

 directly over the ever-expanded tentacles of a large 

 Anemone. To prevent any mishap, I went to lift 

 his crabship, with a view of transferring him to a 

 place of safety, when, no sooner did he perceive the 

 advancing forceps, than he rushed into his shell with 

 a sudden and audible 'click/ forgetting for the moment 

 that he stood on such ticklish ground. The conse- 

 quence was that, seeking to avoid Scylla, he fell into 

 Charybdis. In other w r ords, he dropped plump upon 

 the well-gummed tenter-hooks of the Crassicornis, 

 which instantly closed and engulphed its prize. In 

 vain did I endeavour with all speed to pick out the 

 devoted Pagurus. The more I tried, the more firmly 

 did the Actinia hold him in its convulsive grasp. 



With extremely few exceptions, the Hermit-Crabs 

 are always found to be a prying, prowling, curious 

 class of animals, and are ever, like the husband of the 

 fair Lady Jane 



'Poking their nose (?) into this thing and that. 1 



They will turn over each shell and pebble that comes 

 in their way, and examine it with profound atten- 

 tion, or industriously climb up and roil down hillocks 



