351 The Crab-dog or Raccoon. 
February, wliich appears tu )»e their tiiiie lor fertilising. The males 
commeuce to lose their pretty colour and their flavour, while an 
unpleasant bitter \vatery material fills the whole body, which is lost after 
the period of copulation when they again become gradually fatter. 
Towards the end of July, the eral)s commence to grow afresh, and prepare 
for the casting of their shells : for this jjurpose they fill their holes with 
;blades of grass and leaves, make their Avay inside, stop up the opening 
and remain there motionless until the old shell becomes replaced 
hj a new one. It is not known for certain how long this 
lasts, l)ut it is after this stage that the crab is at its l)est. 
Besides the Indians, August and September atti*acts several 
tjua(lru])e(ls to tlic immediate neighbourhood of the coast, \)i\v- 
ticularly the raccoon {l^nx ifon rr/;(r/-/ro?-us), "Crab-dog" of • the 
Colonists, Oghia of the Warraus, Avhicli iinds the crabs just as tasty 
as do the natives. Tliis only appears in the coastal areas: the INIacusis do 
not know it at all. On catching the crab, it first of all bites off: the 
claws so as to devour its prey at ease. Tt is a mistake to say that the 
Proci/on enncriroriis does not dip its victim in the water, because 
amongst all the many tame specimens that T met in almost every settle- 
ment near the coast, I never saw one that did not devour anything 
A\ it]iout i)revious1y immersing it. Raccoons are smart climl>ers and at 
the same time easily skip from branch to l»ranch. On the ground they 
increase their speed by taking lug jumps which however are always in 
an oblique direction. Oü the coast there is said to be another species 
which in its markings differ essentially from P. cancnvoriiff. tliough 
neither mv brother nor myself ever came face to face with such an one. 
They are in no sense the friendliest neighbours to the poultry on th«-^ 
estates. 
8G1. The varying height of the flood tide along the coast between the 
iV^'aini and Demerara is extraordinary. While the rise is 10 feet on 
the Demerara, it amounts to only 8 feet on the Pomeroon, and to but 
4 on the Waini. This slight rise in the tide is generally ascribed to the 
mouth of the Orinoco, the waters of which are borne down to the ocean 
with such force that they hold back the increase of flood in their 
neighbourhood. As there was still some time to spare, I m.nde up mv 
mind to go to the IVForocco, and then across the itabbo to the Waini, 
follow it to the month of the P.arama, np that river to where my brother 
touched it on his trip to the Cuyuni, then return to the Waini mouth and 
BO make my way once more to the Orinoco. 
802. Two days after my arrival at Mr. McClintock's I left the 
station in his cismpany, for the mouth of the Morocco, whicli lies 
about 7 miles to the West of the Pomeroon. We were un- 
expectedly caught on the open sea in a strong squall with 
thunder-showers whidi, owing to the wild breakers we had to steer 
through, might almost have sent us to the bottom. After advancing 
11 miles up the swampy banks of the Morocco, we reached on its eastern 
or right one the mouth of the Manwariny, whence the course of the main 
streaui turns more to W. by X. A little further ou the same side, if is 
joined bv the Haimura-cabara. Beyond tlse mouth of the Para, the 
Morocco" turns all of a sudden to the Nortli and describes apparently a 
