38 THE INLAND SEA REVISITED. 



myself. During the summer the climate is exceedingly 

 pleasant, July and August being alone rather too hot to 

 be agreeable for out-of-door work. The clear water 

 washes up to the cottagers' doors, and the little urchins 

 spend most of the day swimming and paddling about. 

 Fish are plentiful. Springs of good water are every- 

 where found. Millet, wheat, and rice grow round the 

 villages, and wood for firing on all the uncultivated 

 hillsides. Many of the islands were, during the old 

 rdgime, not taxed. On these rare spots villages were 

 numerous, besides houses straggling away, in twos and 

 threes, wherever a tiny valley would permit cultivation. 

 Some years ago the large species of spider-crab, 

 Inachus Kaempferi, was common, and constantly to 

 be seen in the markets and fish-shops. A native 

 generally bought part of a limb, a yard long, or more, 

 which was quite enough food for the whole family for 

 a couple of days. When I returned in 1874 I at once 

 set to work to procure a specimen. I constantly visited 

 the markets and fish-shops in all the principal towns. 

 I set people to search. I left most earnest requests, 

 offered rewards, and left no stone unturned for three 

 whole years; but not a vestige of the creature could 

 I ever hear of. My hopes of procuring a specimen had 

 ■reached a very low ebb, when I decided on a short 



