THE SNARE-WEAVERS. 
179 
for behind him from under a large stone in a damp 
corner in the side of the bank, an enemy was stealthily 
approaching. 
Any one who had been lately studying prawns and 
lobsters in the sea on this same shore, would almost 
have fancied that this enemy was a curious small lob- 
ster which had come upon the land, for two large 
claws were stretched on each side of his head, and 
with them he ft It his way as he crawled along; his 
Fig. 63. 
Scorpion with a Cricket in its claws. 
r, Shield or carapace ; m c, mouth claws ; /, pincers ; d> poison dart. 
jointed feet were cased in horny armour, and so was 
his whole body, which had a shield over the head 
and shoulders as a prawn has ; while his tail, which 
dragged heavily behind him, was covered with the 
same kind of horny rings. Two large eyes, with 
some smaller ones near them, shone in the front of 
his head, and he was slowly but surely advancing 
upon the unconscious cricket. And now, he was 
close upon him, and in a second, almost too quickly 
