THE FIDDLER. 195 



swimming of the typical Portunidce, the Oceanic 

 Crabs of the tropics, as the long leaps of the Hying 

 Squirrels and the Petauri bear to the sustained flight 

 of a bird. 



None of our native Crabs are " at the top of the 

 ft:ee" in the swimming profession ; their efforts, even 

 those of the best of them (and there is a good deal of 

 difference in the species even of the true Portuni), are 

 awkward bunglings, when compared with the freedom 

 and fleetness of those I have seen in the Caribbean sea, 

 and among the Gulf weed, in the tropical Atlantic, 

 which shoot through the water almost like a fish, with 

 the feet on the side that happens to be the front all 

 tucked close up, and those on the opposite side 

 stretched away behind, so as to " hold no water," as a 

 seaman would say, and thus offer no impediment to 

 the way. Our species are obliged to keep their pair 

 of sculls continually working while they swim ; a se- 

 ries of laborious efforts just sufficient to counteract 

 the force of gravity ; and the see-saw motion of the 

 bent and flattened joints of the oar-feet is so much 

 like that of a fiddler's elbow, as to have given rise to 

 a very widely adopted appellation of these Crabs, 

 among our marine populace. 



An old male of the Velvet Fiddler is a striking and 

 handsome Crab. His body generally is clothed with 

 a short velvety pile of a pale brown or drab hue, from 

 beneath which here and there shines out the glossy 

 deep black shell, especially where rubbed, as at the 

 edges. The feet, particularly the plates of the oars, 

 are conspicuously striped with black ; the large and 

 formidable claws are marked with bright scarlet and 



