ambush among a bunch of
fern, and riveting his eyes upon one of the burrows at the foot of a
young cocoa-nut tree, waited impatiently for the crabs to venture forth
once more. In a few moments a patriarchal-looking old fellow emerged
cautiously from the hole, and was presently followed by several more.
Johnny prudently delayed any hostile movement, until they should get far
enough from their place of security to enable him to cut off their
retreat; and, in the meantime, I was greatly amused and interested in
observing the ingenious method, in which the patriarch commenced
operating upon a cocoa-nut, which had fallen to the ground near his den.

Managing his complicated apparatus of claws with surprising dexterity,
he seized the nut, and stripped off the outer husk in a twinkling; then
setting it upon one end, he began to hammer away at the orifices through
which the stalk and root of the future tree make their way when the nut
germinates. Having at length removed the filling up of these orifices,
he inserted a claw, and actually split the strong inner shell, dividing
it neatly into halves. At this stage of the proceedings, half a dozen
greedy neighbours, who had been looking on, without offering a helping
claw, shuffled nimbly forward to share the spoil, and it was curious to
see how quickly they cleaned out the shell, leaving not a particle of
the kernel. Johnny seized this as a favourable moment for a sally, and
rushed forth cutlass in hand, having adopted the discreet resolution of
disabling them, by lopping off those formidable claws, before coming to
close quarters. The sally, however, was premature, and proved entirely
unsuccessful, for the crabs backed and sidled into their burrows with
such expedition, that the last of them disappeared before their
assailant could get within reach. Leaving Johnny to renew his
ambuscade, if so disposed, I proceeded along the reef, and found Max and
Browne bathing for the second time that day. They had discovered a
charming place for the purpose, where a kind of oval basin was formed by
the lagoon setting into the inside of the reef. The water was deep and
clear, so that there was no danger of wounding the feet by means of
shells or corals. Max had discovered what he supposed to be an enormous
pearl-oyster, attached to a wall of coral, at the depth of five or six
fathoms, and they were diving for it alternately. Both succeeded in
reaching it, but it adhered so firmly to