i6gi.] DICK whittixgton's cat. 91 



The several Inconveniences occasion'd by these Animals 

 when they come thus by Armies, render Credible what is 

 said of that yonng English Adventurer (Eichard Whittington, 

 in the year 1397) who made his Fortune by a Cat which he 

 carry'd out of his Country by chance, and which he pre- 

 sented to a Lord in some Island in the Indies. This little 

 Prince charm'd with the Cat's admirable Hunting, liberally 

 Eewarded him who brought it ; and who having set a high 

 Price upon it, return'd Pdch to London, and became Lord 

 Mayor. He is often to be seen painted with his Cat in his 

 Mayors Habit, and serves for one of the Signs in that City. 



The Land-Crabs^ were our next Enemies. 'Tis impossible 

 to destroy them, there's such a prodigious quantity of them 

 in the low Grounds, and 'tis very difficult to get them out 

 of their Holes.^ Their Burroughs are very broad, and have 

 several Entrances; they never go far from them, standing- 

 always upon their Guard. 



They tore up our Plants in our Gardens day and Night, 

 and if we shut up the Plants in a sort of a Cage in hopes of 

 saving them, if they were not far off, they wou'd dig under 

 Ground from their Burroughs to the Plants, and tear them 

 up under the Cage. The back Scale or Shell of this Crab is 

 of a dirty Piusset Colour, is almost round, and about four 

 Inches Diameter. They march directly witli eight Claws or 

 Paws, about four Inches from tlie Ground, and have two 

 that are indented of an unequal Bigness, as we know all 

 sorts of Crabs have, the Plight Claw or Paw being bigger and 



1 The land crabs described in our text appear to be allied or identical 

 with Blrgus latro, which Darwin observed in the Keeling Islands. He 

 speaks of their burrowing habits and of their being provided with 

 "very strong and heavy pincers", with which they crack the cocoa- 

 nuts {Voyage of the Beagle, \\\, p. 551). Messrs. Gulliver and Slater col- 

 lected 189 specimens of crustacese at Eodriguez, representing thirty- 

 five species. {Phil. Trans., I. c, p. 485.) 



2 "Elles se logent en terre, & creusent, jusqu'a ce qu'elles ayent 

 trouve de I'eau," omitted by translator. 



