A TRAMP BY THE SHORE 
first stage was twenty-two miles from Giabada to 
Issu, the way being greatly lengthened by the need 
to follow the bend of ever-recurring bays, where the 
treacherous sand and the lack of shelter from the 
sun proved particularly trying. But at this part of 
the march we saw one of the most extraordinary 
sights of all our travels—many thousands of soldier- 
crabs traversing the sandy beach in detached, regu- 
larly ordered bodies that moved evidently by the 
signal of some common commander. ‘These “ armed 
battalions” stretched for miles, and no matter what 
figure they assumed—whether wedge, triangle, or 
rhombus—the dressing, so to speak, of the outer 
ranks was perfect, and would have put many a 
Volunteer corps to shame. Not a crab was out of 
line. ‘The advance was fairly rapid, and was always 
towards the sea, for a distance of, say, two hundred 
yards. When the crabs come out of their holes in 
the sand they throw themselves into this compact 
formation probably for safety. There was no walk- 
ing along the beach for them — scarcely a clear 
hundred yards for miles. When approached, they 
quickened their pace perceptibly. 
The individual crab is small and has no shell. 
The spread of the legs would probably be 14 inches, 
and the body is of a dark fawn colour, exactly re- 
sembling the wet sand of the beach, so that the 
creature's hue is without doubt yet another of Nature’s 
adaptations for protection. It is remarkable also that 
it imitates only the wet sand, for the dry sand is of 
a dazzling silky whiteness. 
At Issu we stayed for the night, and did our best 
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