II EDGE-HOG. 
741 
flesh at that time changes its colour. Most of them, however, are 
obliged to continue in the flat parts of the country till they recover, 
making holes in the earth, which they cover at the mouth with leaves 
and dirt, that no air may enter. There they throw otf their old 
shells, which they leave quite whole, the place where they opened on 
the belly being unseen. Tit that time they are quite naked, and 
almost without motion for six days together, when they become so 
fat as to be delicious food. Thev have then under their stomachs 
four large white stones, which gradually decrease in proportion as 
the shell hardens, and when they come to perfection they are not to 
he found. It is at that time that the animal is seen slowly making 
its way back, which is commonly performed in six weeks ; but when 
possessed of its retreats in the. mountains, its fortresses are impreg- 
nable ; for, only subsisting upon vegetables, it seldom ventures out; 
and its habitation being in the most inaccessible parts, it remains 
for a great part of the season in perfect security. It is only when 
impelled by the desire of bringing forth its young, that it descends 
into the flat countries, and is taken. 
At that time the natives wait for its descent m eager expectation, 
and destroy thousands; but, disregarding their bodies, they only seek 
for that small spawn which lies on each side of the stomach within 
the shell, of about the thickness of a man’s thumb. They are much 
more valuable upon their return after they have cast their shells, for, 
being covered with a skin resembling soft parchment, almost every 
part except the stomach may be eaten. They are taken in their 
holes by feeling for them wdth an instrument ; they are sought after by 
night, when on their journey, by flambeaux. The instant the animal feels 
itself attacked, it throw's itself on its back, and with its claw's pinches 
most terribly whatever it happens to fasten on. But the dexterous 
crab-catcher takes them by the hinder legs in such a manner that the 
nippers cannot touch him, and thus he throws them into his hag. 
Sometimes also they are caught W'hen they take refuge in the bottoms 
of holes, in rocks by the sea-side, by covering the mouth of the hole 
to prevent their getting out ; and soon after this, the tide coming, 
enters the hole, and the animal is found, upon its ebbing, drowned in 
his retreat. 
These crabs are of various sizes, the largest about six inches wide ; 
they walk sideways, like the sea-crab, and are shaped like them ; 
some are black, some yellow, some red, and others variegated with 
red, white, and yellow mixed. Some of these are poisonous; and 
some people have died by eating them, particularly the black kind. 
The light-coloured are reckoned best ; and when full in flesh, are 
very well tasted. In some of the sugar islands they are eaten without 
danger, and are no small help to the negro slaves, who, on many of 
these islands, would fare very hard without them. 
Hedge-hog. 
The hedge-hog being possessed of little strength or agility, does 
not attempt to flee from or assail his enemies ; but erects his bris- 
tles, and rolls himself up like a ball, exposing no part of, the body 
