452 A DESCRIPTION OF 
man made a Crab seize one of its own small claws with a 
large one. The animal did not distinguish that it was 
itself the aggressor, but exerted its strength, and soon 
cracked the shell of the small claw. Feeling itself 
wounded, it cast off the piece in the usual place, but con- 
tinued to hold it with the great claw for a long time after- 
wards. 
The Violet Land Crabs of the Caribbee Islands are 
most singular for their habits ; and they have annual and 
regular caravans descending from the mountains, their 
natural abode, down to the sea-shores, in order to deposit 
their spawn, though they return to the mountains after 
having done so. These Crabs form, in their proces- 
sion, a body of fifty paces broad, wheeling along, 
three miles in depth. This battalion moves slowly, but 
with regularity and uniformity, either when they descend 
or ascend the hills. They abound in Jamaica, where they 
are accounted a great delicacy by the natives, and are 
common in the adjacent islands. 
THE SOLDIER CRAB, OR HERMIT CRAB, 
(Pagurus miles,) 
Is a curious animal, and ought to be noticed here for its 
singular habits. It is somewhat like a lobster divested of 
