
          386

* Another fallacy (?) that Mr. L. tried to correct was that a crab when a soft-crab
is sick.  He said it is not so.  Thinking over the matter there surely
does not seem to  be any valid reason that the crab in an act that it is its nature
to go through should then be sick.

young peeler, ripe peeler, "burst"ing coat, and crack; the next stage
being soft crab.  The crab taking at this time of the year
from 10-12 hours to pass through all.  He can place a peeler
in any one of these stages at a glance.  He has boxes into
which he assorts his crabs and awaits their changing into
soft-crabs.  The soft-crab box is carefully made so as to
carefully protect the helpless crabs, that in this stage are preyed
upon by many enemies.  Chief among their enemies seem to
be eels and the hard crab.  Should the box allow any
portion of their bodies to be exposed, even <s>allowing</s> a fin <s>to</s>,
an eel is sure to seize it and by suction devour the whole
crab.  He had the skeleton of a tiny diamond-back terrapin
which he gave me.  I asked him the name of the
yellow-dotted ones I had so often seen sunning themselves
on the banks of ponds.  He called them sliders - red
sliders and he said that they were very good eating.* 
Mr. L. now got ready to go crabbing.  He was in his boat
and while putting a dollar (silver) on a board thrown across
the boat his attention was called to a boat out in the stream
filled with beauties; at that very instant his dollar slipped
        