INTRODUCTION. 
iii 
the grass in muddy places near the sea. The Ocypode ceratophtJialma and other species are 
collected by the poorer classes as food ; they dig them out of their deep sandy burrows with 
great eagerness and diligence, by means simply of their hands. I have seen the natives 
sometimes drive them out by insinuating a long pliant twig into the aperture, and have 
known them also pom’ water into the hole and so force its occupant to appear ; by minutely 
examining the foot-prints near the burrow, they are able to say with certainty whether it is 
vacated or occupied by an Ocypode. On the flat sandy beaches of this group, if the stones 
which the tide has left dry are turned over, hundreds of Porcellance are perceived shuffling 
along, with their bodies closely applied to the under surface of the stones, seeking protection 
by quickly gliding to the opposite side. Our species, P.pulchripes, is active and bustling 
in its habits, but another new species ( P . versimana ), found among the coral-reefs of 
R-OO-kien-san, is apathetic and indolent, and the P. obesula, A. and W., which was dredged 
from twenty-four fathoms in the Sooloo Sea, was very sluggish in its movements. The 
Elamcna unguiformis of De Haan was found here also ; slow in its movements, it lurks 
concealed in holes of the under surface of stones below high-water mark. A species of 
Calappa, allied to C. spinosissma, is found in the shallow bays, which covers itself with sand, 
and when captured feigns death, folding the fore-legs close against the front and retracting 
the hind-legs under the carapace. All the species of Calappa that I have seen alive are 
timid and slow-moving. A species of Alpheus, probably new, inhabits pools under stones 
on the sandy beaches, and when disturbed makes a loud clicking noise by snapping together 
the claws of the fore-legs ; and in the padi-fields, a Gecarcinus, allied to G. lateralis, is very 
common, running about in all directions, feeding on the larvm of Libellulidce and other 
insects. 
The Pagurides, or Pirate-Crabs, are very numerous throughout the shores of the Indian 
Islands, taking refuge, some in the prostrate bodies of decayed trees that usually lie upon 
the strand, some among the loose stones and in the dead leaves and underwood, and some 
even penetrating the verge of the forest and ascending the trees that border upon the sea. 
These are almost entirely terrestrial ; some, however, are quite littoral in their habits, while 
others again live at great depths. We obtained one species of Pagurus off the Cape of Good 
Hope, living in 230 fathoms water, which was remarkable for having fabricated a dwelling in 
the form of a univalve turbinated shell out of the dead Ancillarice which abound there, and 
which are covered with masses of alcyonoid sponge. In the Bashee Group, numerous fine 
