I Have Before Alluded To A Crab Which Lives On The Cocoa-Nuts;
It Is Very Common On All Parts Of The Dry Land, And
Grows To A Monstrous Size:
It is closely allied or identical
with the Birgos latro.
The front pair of legs terminate in
very strong and heavy pincers, and the last pair are fitted
with others weaker and much narrower. It would at first
be thought quite impossible for a crab to open a strong
cocoa-nut covered with the husk; but Mr. Liesk assures me
that he has repeatedly seen this effected. The crab begins
by tearing the husk, fibre by fibre, and always from that
end under which the three eye-holes are situated; when this
is completed, the crab commences hammering with its heavy
claws on one of the eye-holes till an opening is made. Then
turning round its body, by the aid of its posterior and narrow
pair of pincers, it extracts the white albuminous substance.
I think this is as curious a case of instinct as ever
I heard of, and likewise of adaptation in structure between
two objects apparently so remote from each other in the
scheme of nature, as a crab and a cocoa-nut tree. The
Birgos is diurnal in its habits; but every night it is said to
pay a visit to the sea, no doubt for the purpose of moistening
its branchiae. The young are likewise hatched, and live for
some time, on the coast. These crabs inhabit deep burrows,
which they hollow out beneath the roots of trees; and where
they accumulate surprising quantities of the picked fibres
of the cocoa-nut husk, on which they rest as on a bed. The
Malays sometimes take advantage of this, and collect the
fibrous mass to use as junk. These crabs are very good to
eat; moreover, under the tail of the larger ones there is a
mass of fat, which, when melted, sometimes yields as much
as a quart bottle full of limpid oil. It has been stated by
some authors that the Birgos crawls up the cocoa-nut trees
for the purpose of stealing the nuts: I very much doubt the
possibility of this; but with the Pandanus [8] the task would be
very much easier. I was told by Mr. Liesk that on these
islands the Birgos lives only on the nuts which have fallen
to the ground.
Captain Moresby informs me that this crab inhabits the
Chagos and Seychelle groups, but not the neighbouring Maldiva
archipelago. It formerly abounded at Mauritius, but
only a few small ones are now found there. In the Pacific,
this species, or one with closely allied habits, is said [9] to
inhabit a single coral island, north of the Society group. To
show the wonderful strength of the front pair of pincers, I
may mention, that Captain Moresby confined one in a strong
tin-box, which had held biscuits, the lid being secured with
wire; but the crab turned down the edges and escaped.
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