292 
SUPPLEMENT 
females surcharged with eggs, their flesh forms some little 
compensation to the inhabitants for their troublesome visits, 
and the mischief which they occasion. It is reported that they 
halt twice a day, as well for the purpose of feasting, as for a 
short repose ; but they travel principally by night. 
When arrived at the sea shore, they bathe themselves there, 
as it is said, three or four times, and then retire into the neigh- 
bouring plains and woods, where they repose for some time. 
The females then return a second time to the water, and 
having washed themselves a little, they open their tails, let 
fall the eggs which are there attached, and take a fresh bath ; 
after this operation, they seek to regain, in the same order, 
the places from which they had proceeded, and by the same 
route. But the most vigorous individuals are alone destined 
to revisit their former mountain-dwelling ; most of them are, 
at their return, so feeble and thin, that they are forced to^stop 
frequently to recover themselves. 
The eggs thus deposited in the sea are thrown back upon 
the fine sand of the beach, and after having been for some 
time warmed by the rays of the sun, the young are seen to 
issue from them. These speedily proceed to establish them- 
selves in the neighbouring woods, until they have acquired 
strength enough to repair to the mountains, and to form other 
families. 
When they return into their habitations, these Crustacea have 
new trials to undergo. It is then the time of their moulting. 
They all conceal themselves in the earth for some weeks, 
so that there are none of them to be seen ; even the entrance of 
their burrows is then closed. It is said that they are then, as 
it were, enveloped in the leaves of trees. The flesh of those 
which have but just thrown off their old covering is in great 
estimation. The inhabitants of the islands then name them 
crabes boursieres ( ’pouched crabs), for, as in the moultings of 
the other Crustacea, their teguments then form only a red, 
