Queries and AnsUDers. 197 



two or three weeks after quitting the sea; and, after spawning, it is not only unwholesome, but 

 actually poisonous, and yet during the whole of its sojourn in the rivers it is destroyed unlimitedly 

 by poachers and others, I am. Sir, &c. — J. Carr. Jan. 1830. 



Crabs abound i7i the eastern Parts of Jamaica at all Seasons, but are best in the months which 

 have an K in their names, as April, &c, They are most abundant in May, when they deposit their 

 eggs, or run, as the Negroes call it. At this season it is impossible to keep them even out of the 

 bedrooms, where, at one time scratching with their large claws, at another rattling across the 

 floor, they make a noise which might alarm or startle a stranger. For a few weeks in this season 

 they may be gathered in any number. Even the hogs catch them, though not always with impunity, 

 as a crab sometimes lays hold of one of them by the snout, from which he is not easily disengaged, 

 and the terrified animal runs about squeaking in great distress. Atother seasons, and when more 

 valuable, they are caught by torch-light at night, and put into covered baskets. Crowds of Ne- 

 groes pass my house every evening, with torches and baskets, going to a crab- wood on the other 

 side, and return before midnight fully laden. Their baskets contain about forty crabs, and the 

 regular price is a five-penny piece, our smallest coin, equal to about S^d. sterling, for five or six 

 crabs. A hundred plantains, generally sold for 5s., will purchase sixty or seventy crabs. Two of 

 these eaten with plantains, or yams make an excellent meal. I have seen upwards of a hundred 

 Negroes pass my house on an evening, and return with their baskets not only full, but with 

 quantities of crabs fastened by the claws on the top of the baskets; they must have had at least 

 3000 crabs. Almost every Negro family has an old flour-barrel, pierced with holes, in which the 

 crabs are kept. They are fed with plantain skins, &c., and taken out as wanted. 



There is a great variety of crabs in Jamaica, but only two are eaten. The black is the best, and 

 is one of the greatest West Indian delicacies, hardly less so than the turtle. They live in moun- 

 tain forests, in strong ground, and feed on the fallen dry leaves of the trees. The white crab, as 

 it is called (though rather purple than white), principally used by the Negroes, but also by the 

 Whites, is larger, and resembles the lobster in taste. These are amphibious, and are found in the 

 low lands, principally in the woods, where, as I have already said, they are caught at night with 

 torches. They are numerous also in cultivated fields, and in some of the low-lying estates do con- 

 siderable injury at times to the planters in dry weather, when vegetation is slow, by nipping off 

 the blade of the young canes and corn as it shoots through the ground. In such situations the 

 Negroes catch them in a singular manner. They know from the appearance of a crab-hole, if 

 there is a crab in it, and dig down till they come to the water, say 18 in. or 2 ft. and then close the 

 hole firmly with a handful of dry grass; in this manner one Negro will stop two dozen holes in a 

 morning. About four hours after he returns, and his prisoners being by this time drunkened 

 (half-drowned), they tumbled out along with the plug of grass and are caught. 



In 1811 there was a very extraordinary production of black crabs in the eastern part of Ja- 

 maica. In June or July the whole district of Mauchioneal was covered with countless millions, 

 swarming from the sea to the mountains. Of this I was an eye-witness. On ascending Oua Hill, 

 from the vale of Plantain Garden River, the road appeared of a reddish colour, as if strewed with 

 brick-dust. It was owing to myriads of young black crabs, about the size of the nail of a man's 

 iinger, moving at a pretty quick pace direct for the mountains. I rode along the coast a distance 

 of about fifteen miles, and found it nearly the same the whole way ; only in some places they were 

 more numerous, in others less so. Returning the following day, I found the road still covered 

 with them, the same as the day before. How have they been produced, and where do they come 

 from ? were questions every body asked, and nobody could answer. It is well known that crabs 

 deposit their eggs once a year, in May ; but, except on this occasion, though living on the coast, I 

 had never seen above a dozen young crabs together, and hero were millions. No unusual num- 

 ber of old crabs had been observed in that season ; and it is observable that they were moving 

 from a rock-bound coast of inaccessible cliffs, the abode of sea birds, and exposed to the constant 

 influence of the trade winds. No person, as far as I know, ever saw the like except on that occa- 

 sion ; and I have understood that, since 1811, black crabs have been abundant farther in the inte- 

 rior of the island than they were ever known before. {Jamaica Royal Gazette, March, 1829.) — 

 Can you or any of your readers tell how many of the above crabs are described ? — X Y. June. 

 1829. 



Night-smelling Plants. — Can any of your correspondents inform me why 

 the flowers of the night-smelling plants, such as Cheiranthus tristis. Pelar- 

 gonium filipendulifolium, P. gibbosum, &c. &c., are all of dark or dingy 

 colours ? — Anon. July 1829. 



Senecio lividus aiid sylvaticus. — Sir, Can you or any of your numerous 

 correspondents inform me of the true specific distinction between iSenecio 

 lividus, and «S'enecio sylvaticus ; since, though I have frequently examined 

 the plants so called for that purpose, I have never been able to discover 

 any satisfactory difference between them. The various situations in which 

 I have gathered them preclude the possibility of their specific characters, if 

 such really exist, from being unobserved. I have specimens from the sea 

 coast, from the Hambledon Hills, where I gathered it in great abundance 

 •this summer, in a field of oats, growing with Ehinanthus major, and nearly 

 obliterating the crop ; also in some woods in this neighbourhood. The dif- 

 ferent authors whom I have consulted on the subject give, as the specific 

 difference, the green tips of the calyx scales in ♦Senecio lividus. Now, in all 

 my specimens, the tips, on their first coming out of the flowers are green, 

 but in their advanced state are perfectly discoloured. I should be obliged 

 if any of your correspondents would give me their opinions on the subject, 

 since I feel almost convinced that they are the same species. — //. D, Rich- 

 mond, Yorkshire, Nov. 24. 1829. 



