302 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



a friendly way. The magic word " prenta," i.e. Govern- 

 ment, played a great part in the argument, and finally 

 it was agreed that we should land on the other side 

 of the island as far from the turtle-shrines as possible. 

 The day was spent in reef-collecting, and in the course 

 of it I made a discovery concerning the habits of an 

 abundant and widely distributed Crustacean which 

 appears worthy of record, since to the best of my 

 knowledge the observation is new. Whilst turning 

 over lumps of weathered coral in search of creatures 

 harbouring below them, I noticed in one lump a 

 cylindrical hole, evidently made by a reef-boring worm ; 

 incautiously I put my finger into this hole, and 

 instantly received on its tip a blow of such force as 

 to cause a sharp pain. I quickly removed my finger 

 from this mysterious hole and thrust down into it 

 the end of a walking-stick. I could then feel by the 

 jarring sensation that a rapid succession of blows was 

 being rained on the ferrule of the stick. On withdrawing 

 the stick, an elongate, olive-green animal that looked 

 rather like a fish leapt out of the hole, swam with great 

 rapidity across the pool in which I was standing, 

 and took shelter under a large boulder. It was the 

 work of a few moments only to upheave the boulder 

 and grab the animal, which was then seen to be a 

 Crustacean belonging to the group Stomatopoda and 

 named Gonodactylus chimgra. As I held it in my 

 hands it continued to deliver with its large front-legs, 

 or chelipeds, the most persistent and painful blows on 

 my fingers and hands, until at last I was glad to 

 immerse it in a glass tube full of spirit. But, hey 

 presto ! one blow of these redoubtable chelipeds and 

 the stout glass tube was shattered, the animal dropped 



