"Oh, yes," replied my father, with a slight suspicion of sarcasm. "Imagine the interest it causes to the majority of the British Public; but, so long as his pocket isn't touched, the average man doesn't care, even if half the surface of the globe is turned upside down; but let a cat or a dog scratch up his front garden----" "Oh, for pity's sake stop moralizing. Let's make a start and explore the ship. See, the men have already nearly cleared away the mud from the main hatch." Before long my father had shaken off his depression and was hard at work clearing the weed and sand. The hatches were forced open with crowbars, and we had our first view of the main deck. Considering the time the vessel had lain at the bottom of the sea, the amount of dirt and sand that had worked its way between decks was remarkably small; but on descending the ladder it seemed as if we were in a broad, low-roofed cave. Through the gun-ports, now festooned with seaweed, the sunlight filtered, causing a thick, nauseating mist to rise from the sodden timbers; while on the starboard side was a tangled collection of timber and iron, the remains of the ship's ordnance, all the iron guns having been reduced to a softness resembling plumbago; but eight pieces of brass ordnance still retained their original appearance, save for the discoloration caused by the action of the salt water. "Let's see what there is in the cabins aft," said Uncle Herbert, making for a half-open door; "I suppose no one brought a lantern?--it's pitch dark." Even as he spoke the door creaked and moved slowly inwards, while a strange rustling noise was heard in the alley-way. Jumping backwards, my uncle raised an axe that he was carrying, and assumed a defensive attitude, while the rest of us, in breathless expectancy, awaited developments. Again the shuffling noise was repeated, and out of the darkness projected a long, greenish hued, repulsive-looking object, terminating in a pair of formidable nippers, and in another moment a gigantic crab, fully five feet across its shell, shambled out of the gloom, turned partly over on its side to pass the doorway, and made straight for us. "Call yourself a Cornishman, and afraid of a crab!" exclaimed my father as my uncle turned and ran for safety. But it was not a cause for jest. One of the men stabbed at the creature with a crowbar, but, seizing the iron between its formidable claws, the monster wrenched it from the man's grasp, nearly throwing him to the deck. Another struck a heavy blow with an axe, but the steel seemed to have no effect upon the tough armour of the brute's shell, and it was clear that a man would stand little chance if caught by those powerful nippers.