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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