222 LIFE, IN ITS INTERMEDIATE FORMS. 



forage. Once in the year they are said to come down from 

 the mountains in troops, surmounting every obstacle in 

 their way to the sea ; after depositing their eggs in the 

 water they return much enfeebled. Of the habits of an 

 East Indian species (Thelphusa cunicularis), Bishop Heber 

 thus speaks in his interesting Journal : " All the grass 

 through the Deccan generally swarms with a small Land- 

 crab, which burrows in the ground, and runs with con- 

 siderable swiftness, even when encumbered with a bundle 

 of food as big as itself ; this food is grass, or the green 

 stalks of rice, and it is amusing to see the Crabs sitting, 

 as it were, upright to cut their hay with their sharp pin- 

 cers, and then waddling off with their sheaf to their, holes 

 as quickly as their sidelong pace will carry them." 



And since they are so anxious to get out of our sight, we 

 will take the opportunity to make our bow to them and 

 the whole tribe of Crabs and Shrimps together. 



