CRUSTACEA—CRAB. 787 
The sea is the place of destination, and to that they direct their march, 
with right-lined precision. No geometrician could send them to their 
destination by a shorter course; they neither turn to the right nor left, 
whatever obstacles intervene; and even if they meet with a house, they will 
attempt to scale the walls to keep the unbroken tenor of their way. But 
though this be the general order of their route, they upon other occasions are 
compslled to conform to the face of the country ; and if it be intersected by 
rivers, they are then seen to wind along the course of the stream. The 
procession sets forward from the mountains with the regularity of an army 
under the guidance of an experienced commander. They are commonly 
divided into three battalions ; of which the first consists of the strongest and 
poldest males, that, like pioneers, march forward to clear the route and face 
the greatest dangers. These are often obliged to halt for want of rain, and 
go into the most convenient encampment till the weather changes. The 
main body of the army is composed of females, which never leave the 
mountains till the rain is set in for some time, and then descend in regular 
battalia, being formed into columns of fifty paces broad, and three miles 
deep, and so close that they almost cover the ground. Three or four days 
after this, the rear-guard follows; a straggling, undisciplined tribe, consisting 
of males and females, but neither so robust nor so numerous as the former. 
The night is their chief time of proceeding; but if it rains by day, they do 
not fail to profit by the occasion; and they continue to move forward in 
their slow, uniform manner. When the sun shines, and is hot upon the sur- 
face of the ground, they then make a universal halt, and wait till the cool 
of the evening. When they are terrified, they march back ina confused, 
disorderly manner, holding up their nippers, with which they sometimes 
tear off a piece of the skin, and then leave the weapon where they inflicted 
the wound. They even try to intimidate their enemies; for they often 
clatter their nippers together, as if it were to threaten those that come to 
disturb them. But though they thus strive to be formidable to man, they 
are much more so to each other ; for they are possessed of one most unsocial 
property, which is, that if any of them by accident is maimed in such a 
manner as to be incapable of proceeding, the rest fall upon and devour it on 
the spot, and then pursue their journey. 
When, after a fatiguing march, and escaping a thousand dangers, for they 
are sometimes three months in getting to the shore, they have arrived at 
their destined port, they prepare to cast their spawn. The peas are yet 
within their bodies, and not excluded, as is usual in animals of this kind, 
under the tail; for the creature waits for the benefit of the sea water to help 
the delivery. For this purpose, the crab has no sooner reached the shore 
than it eagerly goes to the edge of the water, and lets the waves wash over 
its body two or three times. This seems only a preparation for bringing 
their spawn to maturity; for without farther delay they withdraw to seek a 
lodging upon land; in the mean time, the spawn grows larger, is excluded 
