his good pleasure?" In this mighty task, we cannot indeed avoid being affected with "fear and trembling,' when we reflect on what we have at stake; but we have also every thing to hope, for He who is for us, is greater than all that can be against us; and the value of the prize which is set before us is inestimable.

NINTH WEEK-SATURDAY.

MIGRATION OF THE LAND-CRAB.

As I do not intend to resume, in any other part of this work, the subject of migration, I shall now notice one other migratory animal, which deserts its usual haunts for the purpose of finding an appropriate spot for depositing its eggs, and whose instinct, in this respect, is peculiarly remarkable. I allude to the land-crab. It is noticed by Kirby, but I shall chiefly follow the account given in Goldsmith's Animated Nature,' which contains most of the particulars known of this extraordinary little animal, and from which the description of it, both in the work already mentioned, and in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, seems to be principally drawn.

The crab is of the same kind with the lobster, which in many particulars it resembles. The residence of the greater part of the species is in the waters; but that which I am now about to present to my readers, is entirely an inhabitant of the land, being found chiefly among the mountainous ranges of the Caribbee Islands; and although it has gills like a fish, it speedily perishes when submerged. There is one occasion, however, and only one, when it seeks the seacoast, and seems to prove, not only by its form, but by its habits, its affinity to its congeners of the ocean; and that is, when it is about to wash off or deposit its eggs. It would seem that the eggs of this creature, which bear a remarkable resemblance to

I.

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VII.

The

the spawn of fish, require to be hatched in the sea. crab is warned of this by its instinct; and, though its usual residence is in mountainous districts, at a considerable distance from the shore, where it lives on roots and vegetables, and where its habits are exceedingly retired, it undertakes a tedious and perilous journey, in obedience to the first law of its nature. The form of this animal is little fitted for travelling. It is thus graphically described by Goldsmith:-"The violet-crab somewhat resembles two hands, cut through the middle, and joined together; for each side looks like four fingers, and the two nippers or claws resemble the thumbs. All the rest of the body is covered with a shell as large as a man's hand, and bunched in the middle, on the fore-part of which there are two long eyes, of the size of a grain of barley, as transparent as crystal, and as hard as horn. A little below these, is the mouth, covered with a sort of barbs, under which there are two broad sharp teeth, as white as snow. They are not placed, as in other animals, cross ways, but in an opposite direction, not much unlike the blades of a pair of scissors. With these teeth they can easily cut leaves, fruits, and rotten wood, which is their usual food. But their principal instrument for cutting and seizing their food, is their nippers, which catch such a hold, that the animal loses the limb sooner than its grasp, and is often seen scampering off, having left its claw still holding fast upon its enemy."*

* [The description given above, of the form of the land-crab, is not of much value; for Goldsmith, though an elegant writer both of poetry and prose, was no naturalist. It is sufficient to say, for the information of general readers, that the land-crab (GECARCINUS) resembles the seacrab, except that its body or carapace is remarkably full and rounded. The writer of this note saw thousands of them in Cuba, and is this moment writing, with one of them, a dried specimen, before him. This is a large individual, of a uniform pale ash color. The main facts which may be relied on, in the history of this curious genus, are given in the following brief summary by Latreille.

"The crabs pass the greatest part of their life on land, hiding themselves in holes, and not coming forth till evening. Some keep about cemeteries. Once a year, when they would lay their eggs, they assemble in numerous bands, and move in the shortest direction to the sea, without caring for any obstacles. After they have finished their deposit, they return much weakened. It is said that they block up their bur

Such is the creature whose extraordinary instinct we are about to describe. Among the mountains, they live in a kind of orderly community, usually burrowing in the earth, in the midst of inaccessible retreats. They choose the month of April or May to begin their expedition, and then sally out by thousands from the stumps of hollow trees, from the clefts of the rocks, and from the holes which they dig for themselves under the surface of the ground. The procession sets forward with the regularity of a well-disciplined army. They are commonly divided into three battalions, of which the first consists of the strongest and boldest males, that, like pioneers, march forward to clear the route, and face the greatest dangers. The main body of the army is composed of females, which never leave the mountains till the rain is set in for some time, and these descend in regular array, being formed into columns sometimes of fifty paces broad, and three miles long, and so close that there is no setting down one's foot, without treading on some of them. Three or four days after this, the rear-guard follows, a straggling undisciplined tribe, consisting of males and females, neither so robust nor so numerous as the former. The sea being the place of their destination, to that they direct their march, with right-lined precision, turning neither to the right hand nor the left, except compelled by absolute necessity, and attempting even to scale the walls of houses which may be in their way, rather than be diverted from their direct course. At this sea

son," says Mr. Barclay, speaking of what happens in Jamaica, in a paper published in the New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, "it is impossible to keep them out of the houses, or even out of the bedrooms, where, at one time scratching with their large claws, and at another rattling across the floor, they make a noise that would not a little astonish and alarm a stranger." The night is their chief time of proceeding; but, if it rains by rows during their moult; and their flesh is then much esteemed, al though it is sometimes poisonous. This quality is attributed to the fruit of the manchineel, of which the people think, falsely perhaps, that the crabs have eaten."-Aм. ED.]

day, they do not fail to profit by the occasion, continuing to move forward in their slow uniform manner. When the sun shines, and is hot on the surface of the ground, they make a universal halt, and wait till the cool of the evening. When terrified, they move back in a confused disorderly manner, holding up their nippers as a weapon of offence, and clattering them together, as if to threaten with vengeance those who disturb them. It is remarkable, that if any of them get maimed on their journey, and unable to proceed, instead of leaving them to fall a prey to their enemies, their companions fall upon them, and tear them to pieces; and, although not naturally carnivorous animals, they are said to devour them on the spot.

After escaping a thousand dangers, in the course of a march, which sometimes occupies three months, they at last arrive at the shore, and prepare to cast their spawn. The eggs are still within their bodies, not being as yet excluded, as is usual in animals of this kind, into a receptacle under their tail. But no sooner does the crab reach the shore, than it eagerly goes to the edge of the water, and lets the waves wash over its body two or three times. This seems to be a necessary preparation for bringing the spawn to maturity; and without further delay, it withdraws to seek a lodging on land. The spawn now grows rapidly larger, is excluded from the body, and sticks to the barbs under the flaps of the tail. This bunch is seen as big as a hen's egg, and exactly resembling the roes of herrings. In this state, the crabs once more seek the shore; and shaking off the spawn into the water, leave it to be hatched by the united influence of the sea and a tropical sun, and immediately begin their retreat to the mountains, which, however, their exhausted state often prevents them from ever again being able to reach, especially as they are said to moult or cast their shells by the way. It has been stated that whole shoals of hungry fish are, at this time, watching the shore, in expectation of the annual supply which Providence has thus provided for them. However this may be, millions escape the rapacity of these enemies; and, soon after, an immense

tribe of little crabs is seen quitting the shore, and slowly travelling up to the mountains. Mr. Barclay, in the paper already alluded to, gives a striking description of a migration of these singular animals, which he himself witnessed in Jamaica, but which he seems to consider as altogether unusual in that island, at least to the extent which he details. "On descending Quahill," says this gentleman, "from the vale of Plaintain-garden River, the road appeared of a reddish color, as if strewed with brick-dust. I dismounted from my horse to examine the cause of so unusual an appearance, and was not a little astonished to find that it was owing to myriads of young black crabs,* about the size of the nail of a man's finger, crossing the road, and moving, at a pretty pace, direct for the mountains. I was concerned to think of the destruction I was causing in travelling through such a body of useful creatures, as I fancied that, every time my horse put down a foot, it was the loss of at least ten lives. I rode along the coast, a distance of at least fifteen miles, and found it nearly the same the whole way, only that, in some places, they were more numerous, in others less so. Returning the following day, I found the road still covered with them, the same as the day before." It is worthy of remark, that this prodigious multitude of young ones, were moving from a rock-bound shore, formed by inaccessible cliffs, the abode of seabirds, and against which the waves of the sea were constantly dashed by the trade-wind blowing directly upon them. That the old crabs should be able to deposit their eggs in such a part of the coast, (if that, as would appear, is the habit of the animal,) is not a little extraordinary.

The whole of this well-authenticated history is so full

* This is the same species as that above described, which is called by Goldsmith the violet crab.

Mr. Barclay expresses the utmost surprise at this phenomenon, which he declares to be altogether unprecedented; but if it be true that the young as well as old crabs, usually burrow through the day, and travel only by night, this may partly account for the appearance not being familiar to the inhabitants. On the present occasion, some peculiar state of the atmosphere may perhaps have led the animal to deviate from its usual instinct.