Queer Game 



was then instructed to take a position at a certain 

 place, upon a rock, about ten feet from the water, 

 and to literally watch and wait, and when anything 

 appeared, to kill it with my cudgel or tie it with the 

 rope. 



" This was not a particularly exciting outlook; but 

 I took my place, and slowly the minutes went by. 

 There was something rather soothing in the murmur 

 of the waves and the rustling of the leaves in the 

 adjacent forest, and I must have dozed or nearly 

 gone to sleep when I was aroused by hearing a curious 

 sound, and on looking up, saw an indistinct object 

 moving along not ten feet away. As my eyes became 

 accustomed to the darkness, I made out a form that 

 seemed all legs, with a small body; in fact, a big 

 spider it might have been, and then it dawned upon 

 me that this was the crab. 



" My man had gone around a little point, so, 

 hardly knowing what to do, I waited. The crab, for 

 such it was, crawled slowly toward me, passing up the 

 beach, evidently feeding, or at least acting as if it 

 was, and stopping every few moments. It was the 

 most extraordinary spectacle I had ever seen. The 

 body of the creature did not appear larger than my 

 head, but the legs eight of them were five feet 

 long, while each of the biting claws was at least ten 

 feet in length. I allowed the animal to pass me, then 

 made a jump in its direction and grasped it by one 

 of the big claws; then, by a quick movement, seized 



37 



