BABY TURTLES 85 



''many rare and admirable creatures," among which 

 they could not ''omit to speak of the huge multitude 

 of a certain kind of crayfish, of such size that one 

 was sufficient to satisfy four hungry men at a dinner, 

 being a very good and restorative meat ; the special 

 means (as we conceived it) of our increase of health. 

 They are, as far as we could perceive, utter strangers 

 to the sea, living always on the land, where they 

 work themselves earths, as do the conies, or rather, 

 they dig great and huge caves under the roots of the 

 most huge and monstrous trees, where they lodge by 

 companies together. Of the same sort and kind we 

 found some that, when we came to take them, did 

 climb up into trees." 



Other land-crabs besides Birgus latro inhabit the 

 jungles of South Sentinel, namely, the great Pelocarcinus 

 humei and a species of Cardtosoma. In both these 

 species, though the gills are large and functional, the 

 thickened lining membrane of the gill-chamber plays 

 an important part in respiration. 



On the beach of South Sentinel we were fortunate 

 enough to witness the entry of a brood of turtles 

 into the world. There was a tremendous commotion 

 in the dry sand, and out of it there emerged a swarm 

 of little objects, looking like beetles, which all with 

 one consent made for the sea. Even when we 

 caught them and started them off in the opposite 

 direction, some unerring instinct caused them at once 



