Chap. XVII. HARMONIOUS CRABS. 345 



daily bread : a round bit of moist sand appears at the 

 little labourer's mouth, and is quickly brushed off by one 

 of the claws ; a second bit follows the first ; and another, 

 and still another come as fast as they can be laid aside. As 

 these pellets accumulate, the crab moves sideways, and the 

 work continues. The first impression one receives is, that 

 the little creature has swallowed a great deal of sand, and is 

 getting rid of it as speedily as possible: a habit he indulges 

 in of darting into his hole at intervals, as if for fresh sup- 

 plies, tends to strengthen this idea ; but the size of the heaps 

 formed in a few seconds shows that this cannot be the case, 

 and leads to the impression that, although not readily seen, 

 at the distance at which he chooses to keep the observer, 

 yet that possibly he raises the sand to his mouth, where 

 whatever animalcule it may contain is sifted out of it, and 

 the remainder rejected in the manner described. At times the 

 larger species of crabs perform a sort of concert ; arid from 

 each subterranean abode strange sounds arise, as if, in imita- 

 tion of the songsters of the groves, for very joy they sang ! 

 The wart-hogs (Pliacochcerus Africanus), seem to be rather 

 partial to these large, sound-producing crabs ; they dig them 

 out of the muddy swamps during the night, and devour them. 

 Shoals of small fish abound in the shallows between the 

 Kongone and the land, Nyangalule, and this is the favourite 

 fishing-station of a large flock of pelicans, during the months 

 they remain on the coast. These birds destroy an immense 

 number of fish ; they breed in April on the low island off 

 Kongone, and also on that off East Luabo. The eggs, of 

 which we got a good supply, are so fishy in taste, that 

 anchovy sauce is necessary to render them palatable. At 

 Luabo Island, the turtles come at stated times to lay their 

 eggs, which have a tough membrane instead of a shell, and 

 are pleasant in flavour. 



