No. VII.
On the first arrival of the crabs, when they throng the shoals of the
creeks in vast crowds, as heretofore mentioned, a very summary way of
taking them is resorted to by the country people, and for a purpose that
few would suspect, without having witnessed it. They use a three-pronged
fork or gig, made for this sport, attached to a long handle; the
crabber, standing up in the skiff, pushes it along until he is over a
large collection of crabs, and then strikes his spear among them. By
this several are transfixed at once, and lifted into the boat, and the
operation is repeated until enough have been taken. The purpose to which
they are to be applied is to feed the hogs, which very soon learn to
collect in waiting upon the beach, when the crab spearing is going on.
Although these bristly gentry appear to devour almost all sorts of food
with great relish, it seemed to me that they regarded the crabs as a
most luxurious banquet; and it was truly amusing to see the grunters,
when the crabs were thrown on shore for them, and were scampering off in
various directions, seizing them in spite of their threatening claws,
holding them down with one foot, and speedily reducing them to a state
of helplessness by breaking off their forceps. Such a crunching and
cracking of the unfortunate crabs I never have witnessed since; and I
might have commiserated them more, had not I known that death in some
form or other was continually awaiting them, and that their devourers
were all destined to meet their fate in a few months in the stye, and
thence through the smoke-house to be placed upon our table. On the
shores of the Chesapeake I have caught crabs in a way commonly employed
by all those who are unprovided with boats and nets. This is to have a
forked stick and a baited line, with which the crabber wades out as far
as he thinks fit, and then throws out his line. As soon as he finds he
has a bite, he draws the line in, cautiously lifting but a very little
from the bottom. As soon as it is near enough to be fairly in reach, he
quickly, yet with as little movement as possible, secures the crab by
placing the forked stick across his body, and pressing him against the
sand. He must then stoop down and take hold of the crab by the two
posterior swimming legs, so as to avoid being seized by the claws.
Should he not wish to carry each crab ashore as he catches it, he
pinions or _spansels_ (as the fishermen call it) them. This is a very
effectual mode of disabling them from using their biting claws, yet it
is certainly not the most humane operation: it is done by taking the
first of the sharp-pointed feet of each side, and forcing it in for the
length of the joint behind the moveable joint or thumb of the opposite
biting claw. The crabs are then strung upon a string or wythe, and
allowed to hang in the water until the crabber desists from his
occupations. In the previous article, crabs were spoken of as curious
and interesting, and the reader may not consider the particulars thus
far given as being particularly so. Perhaps, when he takes them
altogether, he will agree that they have as much that is curious about
their construction as almost any animal we have mentioned, and in the
interesting details we have as yet made but a single step.
The circumstance of the external skeleton has been mentioned; but who
would expect an animal as low in the scale as a crab, to be furnished
with ten or twelve pair of jaws to its mouth? Yet such is the fact; and
all these variously-constructed pieces are provided with appropriate
muscles, and move in a manner which can scarcely be explained, though it
may be very readily comprehended when once observed in living nature.
But, after all the complexity of the jaws, where would an inexperienced
person look for their teeth?--surely not in the stomach?--nevertheless,
such is their situation; and these are not mere appendages, that are
called teeth by courtesy, but stout, regular grinding teeth, with a
light brown surface. They are not only within the stomach, but fixed to
a cartilage nearest to its lower extremity, so that the food, unlike
that of other creatures, is submitted to the action of the teeth as it
is passing _from_ the stomach, instead of being chewed before it is
swallowed. In some species the teeth are five in number; but throughout
this class of animals the same general principle of construction may be
observed. Crabs and their kindred have no brain, because they are not
required to reason upon what they observe: they have a nervous system
excellently suited to their mode of life, and its knots or ganglia send
out nerves to the organs of sense, digestion, motion, etc. The senses of
these beings are very acute, especially their sight, hearing, and smell.
Most of my readers have heard of crabs' eyes, or have seen these organs
in the animal on the end of two little projecting knobs, above and on
each side of the mouth: few of them, however, have seen the crab's ear;
yet it is very easily found, and is a little triangular bump placed near
the base of the feelers. This bump has a membrane stretched over it, and
communicates with a small cavity, which is the internal ear. The _organ_
of smell is not so easily demonstrated as that of hearing, though the
evidence of their possessing the sense to an acute degree is readily
attainable. A German naturalist inferred, from the fact of the nerve
corresponding to the olfactory nerve in man being distributed to the
antennae, in insects, that the antennae were the organs of smell in them.
Cuvier and others suggest that a similar arrangement may exist in the
crustacea. To satisfy myself whether it was so or not, I lately
dissected a small lobster, and was delighted to find that the first pair
of nerves actually went to the antennae, and gave positive support to the
opinion mentioned. I state this, not to claim credit for ascertaining
the truth or inaccuracies of a suggestion, but with a view of inviting
the reader to do the same in all cases of doubt. Where it is possible
to refer to _nature_ for the actual condition of facts, learned
_authorities_ give me no uneasiness. If I find that the structure bears
out their opinions, it is more satisfactory; when it convicts them of
absurdity, it saves much fruitless reading, as well as the trouble of
shaking off prejudices.
The first time my attention was called to the extreme acuteness of sight
possessed by these animals, was during a walk along the flats of Long
Island, reaching towards Governor's Island, in New York, A vast number
of the small land-crabs, called fiddlers by the boys (_gecarcinus_),
occupy burrows or caves dug in the marshy soil, whence they come out and
go for some distance, either in search of food or to sun themselves.
Long before I approached close enough to see their forms with
distinctness, they were scampering towards their holes, into which they
plunged with a tolerable certainty of escape--these retreats being of
considerable depth, and often communicating with each other, as well as
nearly filled with water. On endeavouring cautiously to approach some
others, it was quite amusing to observe their vigilance--to see them
slowly change position, and, from lying extended in the sun, beginning
to gather themselves up for a start, should it prove necessary: at
length standing up, as it were, on tiptoe, and raising their
pedunculated eyes as high as possible. One quick step on the part of the
individual approaching was enough--away they would go, with a celerity
which must appear surprising to any one who had not previously
witnessed it. What is more remarkable, they possess the power of moving
equally well with any part of the body foremost; so that, when
endeavouring to escape, they will suddenly dart off to one side or the
other, without turning round, and thus elude pursuit. My observations
upon the crustaceous animals have extended through many years, and in
very various situations; and for the sake of making the general view of
their qualities more satisfactory, I will go on to state what I remarked
of some of the genera and species in the West Indies, where they are
exceedingly numerous and various. The greater proportion of the genera
feed on animal matter, especially after decomposition has begun: a large
number are exclusively confined to the deep waters, and approach the
shoals and lands only during the spawning season. Many live in the sea,
but daily pass many hours upon the rocky shores for the pleasure of
basking in the sun; others live in marshy or moist ground, at a
considerable distance from the water, and feed principally on vegetable
food, especially the sugar-cane, of which they are extremely
destructive. Others, again, reside habitually on the hills or mountains,
and visit the sea only once a year, for the purpose of depositing their
eggs in the sand. All those which reside in burrows made in moist
ground, and those coming daily on the rocks to bask in the sun,
participate in about an equal degree in the qualities of vigilance and
swiftness. Many a breathless race have I run in vain, attempting to
intercept them, and prevent their escaping into the sea. Many an hour of
cautious and solicitous endeavour to steal upon them unobserved, has
been frustrated by their long-sighted watchfulness; and several times,
when, by extreme care and cunning approaches, I have actually succeeded
in getting between a fine specimen and the sea, and had full hope of
driving him farther inland, have all my anticipations been ruined by the
wonderful swiftness of their flight, or the surprising facility with
which they would dart off in the very opposite direction, at the very
moment I felt almost sure of my prize. One day, in particular, I saw on
a flat rock, which afforded a fine sunning place, the most beautiful
crab I had ever beheld. It was of the largest size, and would have
covered a large dinner-plate, most beautifully coloured with bright
crimson below, and a variety of tints of blue, purple, and green above:
it was just such a specimen as could not fail to excite all the
solicitude of a collector to obtain. But it was not in the least
deficient in the art of self-preservation: my most careful manoeuvres
proved ineffectual, and all my efforts only enabled me to see enough of
it to augment my regrets to a high degree. Subsequently, I saw a similar
individual in the collection of a resident: this had been killed against
the rocks during a violent hurricane, with very slight injury to its
shell. I offered high rewards to the black people if they would bring me
such a one, but the most expert among them seemed to think it an
unpromising search, as they knew of no way of capturing them. If I had
been supplied with some powder of nux vomica, with which to poison some
meat, I _might_ have succeeded.