The Pagurii feed upon dead animals, fish, and all kinds of offal, as well as vegetable matter, such as skins of plantains, remains of cocoa nuts, fruits, &c. I have often observed a number of these creatures of various sizes congregated about a dead and putrid fish, and it is ludicrous, on disturbing them in the midst of their feast, to see them marching away, jumbling and overturning one another in the hurry, causing a clattering noise to proceed from the collision of their burrowed coverings; and should they not be able to escape capture they draw themselves closely into the shell, closing the aperture so firmly, by crossing the claws over the entrance, as to render it impossible to extract them without breaking the shell to pieces. Thus secured, they remain immoveable and apparently dead, and may be kicked or thrown about, without giving any indications of life; but danger passed, they emerge partly from the shell as before, and move briskly away. The natives use them occasionally, but rarely, as food.
It is not an improbable supposition, that the ova of these curious crustaceous animals are deposited in the empty shells lying upon the beach; and the changes these crustacea undergo is one of the most interesting subjects of investigation which could engage the attention of a practical naturalist. It is a curious fact that, no matter whatever form the univalve shell may have, the posterior or soft parts of the animal inhabiting it are accommodated to it; thus causing persons not accustomed to observe the changes of natural objects to regard this as the original inhabitant; and it is oftentimes difficult to persuade them of the reverse: the posterior portion of the animal being naked, and the anterior crustaceous, the former evidently requires some protection.
One morning (having previously received a general invitation) I visited the rajah at his habitation: the situation was an extensive plot of ground, containing numerous houses in the usual Malay style of building, being the residences of the rajah, his wives, and attendants; the whole enclosed by lofty waving bamboos, forming a close and impenetrable fence; and the interior planted with a number of fruit trees and flowering shrubs. The entrance was by a gateway, over which was a small room, in which his highness receives visitors, or wiles away a leisure hour in smoking, talking, or sleeping. I ascended to it by a bamboo ladder, and found myself in a cool but dirty room, containing a small bed, over which a mat was laid; the curtains about it seemed to have remained in ignorance, since they came from the loom, of the application of water. Some carved boxes, (one of which served me for a seat,) a native shield, and a few other trumpery articles, constituted the furniture of the apartment. And here I was received in a cordial manner by the rajah.
His highness was attired in a common Madras cloth sarong and sandalong, which, like the curtains, seemed never to have undergone ablution; he wore, in lieu of a turban, the usual particoloured Moorman’s cap or cupia, which merely covered the top of his head. The personal appearance of the rajah reminded me of the tribe of animals they abhor for uncleanness—I allude to the hog, of which he informed us there were plenty wild, if we were desirous of hunting them.
Cocoa-nut water was introduced, being the usual beverage in the country, and proving both wholesome and refreshing. The cocoa palm abounds, and they have numerous varieties. The Malay name for the nut is Kalapas; in the Acheenese language the tree is called Ba, hu, (ba signifying tree, and hu cocoa-nut,)—a ripe nut, Hu, massa,—and a green one, Hu, mudar.[147] This palm forms a beautiful and picturesque object in the tropical landscape. In the Appendix I purpose giving an account of this valuable, ornamental, and useful palm, and the various uses for which it is employed in the different countries where it abounds.[148]
The habitations in the rajah’s inclosure were raised from the ground, (which is the usual Malay style of constructing houses,) and were ascended by means of rude bamboo ladders. They are formed, for the most part, of bamboo, and thatched with palm leaves; but one of larger size and neater style was the immediate residence of the rajah and his wives; the young rajah having, as we were informed, two concubines, eighteen years of age each,—and a child, now four years old, betrothed to him as his intended wife. Near the habitations the cocoa, plantain, orange, mango, and custard apple trees grew, shading them by the grandeur and profusion of their foliage. There was also a house (which from the commencement, being now in frame, appeared intended to be of some extent,) which had been commenced by the old rajah not long before his death; but the building was obliged to be discontinued by the young rajah, on his succession, from a want of the necessary funds for its construction.
At one part of the inclosure a bamboo ladder ascended to a little elevation, which brought us to a plank, over which we passed into the fort adjoining the residence of the rajah, and was mounted with several large brass guns, most of which had the arms of the East India Company upon them. The fort was built of stone, elevated about sixteen or eighteen feet from the ground, covered over with a thatch of palm leaves, and having a look-out house upon the summit. There were lamps, which are lighted after dark, and remain so during the night, a sentinel being also stationed there. From some large rents in the walls of the fort, it was evident that the concussion of the guns, if fired off, (which they had not yet been,) would bring the whole fabric down about their ears: the minister and “authorities” thought the same, and said a stronger fort was to be built, when a sufficient number of stones calculated for the purpose could be collected.[149] Although abundance of cocoa-nut water was given us to drink, yet nothing was offered us to eat; by which I should infer, they conceived white people lived, like humming birds, upon suction.
On leaving the rajah’s place, my guides took me again to the bazaar, where it appears to be a custom to take strangers: this I attribute to their Mahometan prejudices, of not being desirous of receiving Christians under their roofs. Here mats were placed, so that I might be seated, and gazed at, like a curious animal, by a large crowd of natives of all classes and orders, who, from the eagerness they evinced, and the crowds which assembled around us upon these occasions, seemed to regard Europeans as curiosities. However, instead of waiting to be gazed at, I amused myself by wandering over the bazaar, which was plentifully supplied with sugar-canes, plantains, rice, cucumbers, dried fish, sere, (the leaf of the piper betel,) the Areka nut, or Pinong, cut up ready for mastication, and a quantity of live stock, as small bullocks, ducks, fowls, &c. &c.
From the bazaar I walked down by the banks of the river, upon the raised paths which intersected the numerous marshes, which now, during the dry season, abounded in luxuriant grass and other herbaceous plants, affording fine feeding for the numerous bullocks (of the small hunch-backed Bengal breed) and buffaloes, which roamed about. During the rainy season the whole of this flat is planted with rice, which, together with the scattered picturesque habitations, and groups of palms and other trees, form, by their combination, a very pleasing landscape. Upon the banks of the river was the Acrostic humaureum, or “Ongpi” of the natives, as well as the “Ba, jurugu,” or Acanthus ilicifolius, covered with a profusion of blue flowers; and brilliant butterflies and other insects flew about the rich vegetation, which was so profusely strewed about. Surrounding a hut near the river was the “Sekar,” a species of Pandanus, the younger leaves of which several women were engaged in collecting: they are bleached by soaking in water, and afterwards exposing them to the heat of the sun. Being thus prepared, they manufacture them into various kinds of coarse mats.