CRABS. 161 



countries. These crabs, instead of frequenting the sea, as most Crustaceans 

 do, are essentially terrestrial, and they sometimes live at a considerable dis- 

 tance from the shore. They nevertheless avoid extremely dry situations, and 

 are ordinarily found in marshy districts. They all dig deep holes. They are 

 commonly seen at night, or just after abundant rains, when they sally forth in 

 crowds from their subterranean habitations in pursuit of food. Some species 

 live principally on vegetables, but others seek animal food with avidity ; great 

 numbers are found in cemeteries. One of the most curious points in the 

 history of these animals is that they make an annual journey to the sea-shore. 

 In the rainy season they abandon their holes, congregate in almost number- 

 less troops, and, guided by an instinct which is incomprehensible to us, take 

 a direct line towards the sea, although they may be very distant from it. 

 They travel chiefly by night, and nothing but large rivers can arrest or turn 

 them from their route ; they climb over houses, scale rocks, and often destroy 

 whole plantations, cutting and devouring the young plants as they pass along. 

 Having reached the sea, these armies of crabs plunge in and bathe several 

 times, and then retire to the plains or neighbouring woods. Some time after- 

 wards the females go again to the sea, and there deposit their eggs ; then they 

 resume their march and return to their ordinary abode, but are so thin and 

 feeble that they can scarcely drag themselves along. 



Some of these crabs take up their abode in the vicinity of sugar-cane fields, 

 and are very injurious to the planters, being at certain seasons particularly 

 fond of the cane, the juice of which they suck and chiefly subsist on. They 

 are of course narrowly watched, and no opportunity of catching them is ne- 

 glected; but such is the wonderful facility they have in running, or rather 

 darting, in any direction, or with any part of their bodies foremost, that they 

 are almost always enabled to elude capture. It is seldom, moreover, that 

 they go far from their burrows in the day-time, and their vigilance is such that 

 they regain them in a moment, and instantly disappear so soon as a man or 

 dog comes near enough to be seen. 



If we now pass to the consideration of the 



Queer-tailed Decapods (Anomoura), we find that the limbs 

 above enumerated, although existing in precisely similar situations 

 as in the lobster, are so far modified in their construction and rela- 

 tive proportions, as to become suited to a mode of life widely 

 different from that led by the members of the last division. 



The Anomoura, * as their name imports, have limbs of very 

 anomalous conformation. Instead of being cased in a hard coat 

 of mail, the hinder part of the body is soft and leathery, possess- 

 ing only a few detached shelly pieces, comparable, it is true, to 

 those found in the lobster, but strangely altered in structure. 



These animals, usually known by the name of 



Soldier Crabs or Hermit Crabs, frequent level and sandy 

 shores, and from their defenceless condition are obliged to resort 

 to artificial protection. This they do by selecting an empty shell, 



anomos, lawless ; otpa, oura, a tail. 



11 



