22 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 
chasseurs arrive with their collection of humming-birds. 
They only hunt at certain times of the day, when I 
can be near to attend to the little captives, according 
to my instructions, for they have a cruel way of tying 
them together if they keep them long. They are find- 
ing some new things every day, and as they have got 
the idea that I am collecting everything in shape of 
bird, beast, insect, and reptile, they bring me the result 
of each day’s “find.” Sometimes it is a snail, a fat 
caterpillar hideous in its slimy skin, a butterfly, a 
beetle, or a spider. At one time, from an incautious 
remark that I made to the effect that I would like a 
specimen of the curious land-crab which abounds in 
the ravines and rivulet banks, they conceived the idea 
of supplying me with the crustacean just mentioned. 
Each boy and girl on the place resolved to be the first 
to furnish me with the coveted crab. The consequence 
was that my place was soon overrun with shell-fish — 
ugly red and yellow crabs — as large as a man’s hand, 
and from that to the most diminutive. One of the 
girls in a mischievous mood brought in a crab with a 
family of little ones, over a hundred, just large 
enough to be seen, and let them loose on the floor. 
Through some open window, while I was absent, some 
giant crab would be dropped on the floor to await my 
arrival. This was not done in a spirit of mischief, but 
from an earnest desire to aid me in my labors. 
For a week after I could not stir without coming in 
contact with a shelly creature. I could not put my 
foot out of bed without a shudder of apprehension. Of 
nights I would be awakened by a rattlin§ of ale-bottles, 
and arising would discover that some crab had got 
thirsty during the night, and had inserted a claw which 
