FIGHT OF THE HERMIT-CRABS. 49 



his foe ; and then came the tug of crabs ! C. K. had too 

 firm a hold ; he could not be dislodged. I poked his tender 

 tail, which was exposed through the broken shell, and he 

 vacated, leaving Wigan once more in possession. But not for 

 long. Once more Wigan was clutched, haled out, and flung 

 away. I then placed a smaller shell, but perfect, in the vase. 

 Kean at once quitted his dilapidated roof, and ensconced 

 himself in tliis more modest cottage, leaving Wigan to make 

 himself comfortable in the ruin ; which he did. 



The fun w^as not over yet. I placed a third hermit-crab 

 in the vase. He was much smaller than the other two, but 

 liis shell was laroer than the one in which Kean had settled, 

 as that unscrupulous crab quickly perceived, for he set about 

 bidlying the stranger, who, however, had a shell large enough 

 to admit his whole body, and into it he withdi'ew. It was 

 droll to see Kean clutching the shell, vainly waiting for the 

 stranger to protrude enough of his body to permit of a good 

 grasp and a tug ; but the stranger knew better. He must 

 have been worn out at last, however, for although I did not 

 witness the feat, an hour afterwards, when I looked at them, 

 I saw Kean comfortable in the stranger's house. I changed 

 them again ; but again the usurpation was successful. On 

 the third day I find recorded in my journal: "The crabs 

 have been fighting, and changing their abodes continually. 

 C. K. is the terror of tlie other two, and Wigan is so subdued 

 by constant defeats that he is thrown into a fluster if even 

 an empty shell is placed near him ; and although without a 

 shell himself, which must make him very cold and comfort- 

 less in the terminal regions, he is afraid to enter an empty 



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