Umslopogaas took his axe and cracked the shell of one with the flat of it, whereon it set up a horrid screaming which the echoes multiplied a thousandfold, and began to foam at the mouth, a proceeding that drew hundreds more of its friends out of unsuspected holes and corners.

Those on the spot perceiving that the animal was hurt fell upon it like creditors on a bankrupt, and literally rent it limb from limb with their huge pincers and devoured it, using their claws to convey the fragments to their mouths.

Seizing whatever weapons were handy, such as stones or paddles, we commenced a war upon the monsters -- whose numbers were increasing by leaps and bounds, and whose stench was overpowering.

So fast as we cracked their armour others seized the injured ones and devoured them, foaming at the mouth, and screaming as they did so.

Nor did the brutes stop at that.