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| author | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-01-18 22:10:25 -0800 |
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| committer | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-01-18 22:10:25 -0800 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/77735-0.txt b/77735-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ee73b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/77735-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3157 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77735 *** + + + + +CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. + +[Illustration: A PARTY OF “OU-OU” HUNTERS.] + + + + + CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE, + + _GATHERED AMONGST THE ROCKS + AT THE SEA-SHORE, + BY THE RIVERSIDE, AND IN THE FOREST_. + + + BY W. B. LORD, R.A. + + AUTHOR OF “SEA-FISH, AND HOW TO CATCH THEM,” “THE SILK WORM BOOK.” + ETC. ETC. + + + LONDON: + GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, + THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. + 1867. + + + + + LONDON: + R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, + BREAD STREET HILL. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +What say you to a ramble among the fairy rock pools, weed-covered +ledges, and gem-decked parterres bordering the gardens of the sea? +Where ocean plants and flowrets of a thousand hues and tints wave their +trailing tendrils, and unfold their feathery fronds, in the crystal +waters, and to an expedition to far-off lands and tropic islands raised +from the sea’s depths by the mighty labours of the tiny coral insect; +where the tough roots of the graceful, fern-like palms, are ever +bathed by the snow-white foam, and where the fresh sea breeze, sings +merrily through the grove, to the deep-toned thunder of the surf as +it breaks on the wide-stretching reef, and is scattered in a rainbow +shower far within the still lagunes beyond its rampart-like borders. +We do not journey thus far to gather gold, gems, or pearls, neither +is our object warlike, although we purpose visiting the mailed hosts +in and about their strongholds, and investigating the economy of the +submarine armour-clads, in their own harbours. Should the adventure +be to your taste, we will, together, explore the keeps, caverns, and +points of vantage in which some of these sea champions reside, inspect +the armories with which they are furnished, and note the nature and +quality of their equipment. As man makes war on his fellow-man, and +devises not only weapons of offence and destruction, but shields and +defensive armour wherewith to protect himself, so nature--from whom +many of the most perfect examples of both have been borrowed by the +human race--furnishes to the swordfish, the long and sharp rapier, with +which he deals out death to the huge, and mighty whale; the beautifully +barbed spear to the _sting ray_, and the dagger-like spines which arm +so many of the freebooters of the sea: the massive mail of the turtle; +the castles of exquisite design in which the shell-bearing molluscs +dwell, and the armour of proof possessed by the crustaceæ, are all +fashioned by the same skilled hand; and so marvellously perfect and +admirable are their adaptation to the purposes for which they are +intended, that man, with all his boasted intelligence, can only wonder, +admire, and endeavour to imitate. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CRABS 1 + + SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS 73 + + LOBSTERS 90 + + RIVER CRAYFISH 106 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PAGE + + A PARTY OF “OU-OU” HUNTERS _Frontispiece._ + + “CANCER,” A SIGN OF THE ZODIAC 1 + + A CRAB IN TESSELATED PAVEMENT 2 + + “BABY CRABS,” OR ZOËA 4, 5 + + LARGE EDIBLE CRAB (_Cancer pagurus_) 8 + + CRAB POT 9 + + A “BECUED CREEPER” 11 + + FISH-HOOK FASTENINGS 12 + + LOOP SLIP 13 + + STONE HITCH 13 + + FRAME REEL 15 + + GUT KNOT 16 + + KNIFE TWISTER 17 + + FISHING LEADS 20 + + TRAVELLER LINE 21 + + HARBOUR CRAB (_Carcinus maenas_) 28 + + VELVET SWIMMING CRAB (_Portunus puber_) 30 + + COMMON SLENDER SPIDER CRAB (_Stenorynchus tenuirostris_) 33 + + _Pagurus Bernhardus_ 34 + + VENUS’S FLOWER-BASKET (_Euplectella speciosa_) 36 + + COMMON PEA CRAB (_Pinnotheres pisum_) 42 + + PINNA PEA CRAB (_P. veterum_) 43 + + THE “OU-OU,” OR COCOA-NUT CRAB (_Birgus latro_) 46 + + THE EUROPEAN LAND CRAB (_Thelphusa fluviatilis_) 56 + + COMMON SAND SHRIMP (_Crangon vulgaris_) 74 + + THE DREDGE 75 + + SAND SHRIMP NET 76 + + POLE SHRIMP NET 78 + + PRAWN NET 80 + + COMMON PRAWN AND PARASITE 86 + + THE COMMON ENGLISH LOBSTER (_Homarus vulgaris_) 90 + + LOBSTER TRAP 91 + + HATCHING TROUGH (French) 92 + + PAN AND TUB ARRANGEMENT 93 + + NORWAY LOBSTER (_Nephrops Norvegicus_) 95 + + SPINED LOBSTER, OR CRAY (_Palinurus vulgaris_) 100 + + THE COMMON RIVER CRAY (_Astacus fluviatilis_) 106 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The crustaceans, to whose homes we propose bending our steps, have some +strange and note-worthy peculiarities of form, structure, and habits. +Instead of, like ordinary creatures, having skeletons _in them_, on +which their tissues are disposed (much as fashionable milliners arrange +the captivating raiment of the fair), they, in an apparently perverse +and independent spirit, adopt a custom of their own, which to us would, +to say the very least of it, prove most uncomfortable and inconvenient, +and wear their skeletons _outside_ instead of _in_; and although +fashions do not (so far as our experience has gone) change in the +realms of King Neptune, and no startling announcement meets the eager +eye of Mrs. Crab, or the charming Misses Lobster, that a sweet new +thing in skeletons has just arrived at the emporium of Sponge, Limpet, +and Co. Limited, no crustacean lady or gentleman ever thinks of being +content with one, for the term of her or his natural life; but as the +external coverings become worn, and feel uncomfortably circumscribed, +a restlessness, and yearning for variety is felt; and, like Professor +Owen, their longings are for _a new skeleton_, and, like that gifted +anatomist, rest not, until one is obtained. Unlike the page who, in a +complete suit of armour, accompanied his noble master to the Holy Wars, +and, as the legend goes, returned after years of absence, a dwarf, +from having nothing else to wear, our friends are more prolific in +expedient, as will be seen by those who investigate. + + + + +CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. + + + + +CRABS. + + +[Illustration] + +From the very earliest periods of the world’s history the family of +Crab appears to have been well known and much respected, and the Zodiac +would be incomplete without its “_Cancer_.” The picture from which +the accompanying illustration is taken was drawn by an artist of the +thirteenth century, and appears as an embellishment in a Prayer-book +which afterwards became the property of Queen Mary, and is now in +the British Museum. It serves to show the idea entertained in this +country of that particular sign at the period referred to. Those +remarkably odd fellows the early Romans, even in their time, were +not the sort of folks to overlook or heedlessly pass by the merits +of so distinguished a gentleman as Mr. Cancer. He was well known and +highly appreciated in the Seven-hilled City long before Art, except +as brought to bear on the delineation of rude and uncouth patterns on +the skins of the inhabitants, was known in this country. But when the +restless Roman gentry, before referred to, cast their lot on a distant +shore, and settled in the savage British Isles, they bore with them +memories not to be effaced or treated lightly. Tesselated pavements in +Cancer’s honour were elaborately wrought, and carefully laid down by +them in the villas they here built for themselves. The accompanying +illustration represents a portion of one of these pavements discovered +at Cirencester in the year 1783.[1] + +[Illustration] + +[1] A Roman oyster-knife was found buried not far from the site of one +of these ancient villas. + +A great deal of this esteem, it is to be feared, somewhat resembled the +great affection professed by a chief of the Feejee Islands for a very +good-looking little midshipman of one of Her Majesty’s ships cruising +among those fertile but questionable retreats. “I love him very much,” +said the dusky potentate, “because he is so plump, and would make +such a delicious roast with palm-top stuffing.” Apicius loved Crab +because he was good in many ways. Hear what he says of Crab sausages: +“Boil some of these animals, reduce them to a pulp; mix with this some +spikenard, garum, pepper, and eggs; give to this the ordinary shape +of sausages, place them on a stove or gridiron; and you will by this +means obtain a delicate and tempting dish.” He also informs us that a +Crab may be served whole, boiled, and accompanied by a seasoning of +pepper, cummin, and rue, which the cook skilfully mixes with garum, +honey, oil, and vinegar. Later on in history we find our friend Cancer +depicted in heraldic devices, and among the armorial bearings of many +influential families. So we see that his lineage is an ancient one. The +family to which he belongs is extremely numerous, and it is with the +peculiarities of some of its members that we shall now have to deal. + +[Illustration] + +Among all the curious and quaint forms of animal life to be found in +the sea, few for grotesque oddity can equal the baby Crabs, or _Zoëa_, +as they are sometimes called. These interesting infants are not the +least like their papa or mamma, and no respectable or fully-matured +male or female Crab would ever own them as his or her offspring. An +elfish little creature is the juvenile Crab, with a head scarcely +deserving the name, and a pair of goggle bulls’-eyes as of two +policemen’s lanterns rolled into one; a tail vastly too long for him, +and an anti-garotte spear, quite as long as his absurd little body, +attached to the spot where his coat-collar should be. The annexed +illustrations will serve to give some idea of these prepossessing +juveniles. They are the portraits of two little cousins. In this case, +age, although it alters appearances, affects disposition but little, +and, as you turn over some stone, fragment of wreck, or tuft of weed, +in search of curiosities, young Master Crab will, in all probability, +be found at home, and, like an enraged dentist, ready to do fierce +battle against all intruders with his upraised pincers. This is the +ill-disposed young gentleman who sends _Lotty_ or _Totty_, with +heartrending screams and pinched pettitoes, in wild dismay from the +charming shell-floored pool, in which they have been paddling. Master +Crab’s internal economy is just as curious as his external skeleton. +One pair of jaws one would be disposed to think sufficient for any +living creature of reasonable requirements; but he possesses eight, +and, instead of exposing his teeth to the examination of the critical +in matters of dentition, he carries them safely stowed away in the +interior of his stomach, where they would be excessively hard to get at +in cases of crustacean tooth-ache. With such appliances as these, the +food cannot well be otherwise than perfectly masticated. A Crab’s liver +is an odd organ to contemplate, and constitutes a considerable portion +of the soft interior of the shell-like box in which the heart and +other viscera are lodged. That well-known yellow delicacy known as the +_cream_ or _fat_ of the Crab is _liver_, and nothing else. The lungs or +gills are formed by those fringe-like appendages popularly known as the +_dead men’s fingers_. The shell-shifting process before referred to, is +common to all crustaceans; and our friend the Crab, when he feels his +corselet getting rather tight for him, manages, by some extraordinary +process, not only to extricate himself from it, together with his +shell gauntlets and the powerful nippers with which he is provided, +but performs other feats, compared with which those of the Davenport +Brothers sink into utter insignificance; and we opine that, had those +eminent spiritualists been called on to do by the aid of all their +shadowy accomplices one half of that which Cancer and his cousins the +lobsters and crays do unassisted, no Tom Fool’s knot would have been +needed to complete their discomfiture. Not only are the too-constricted +shell and claw coverings cast aside, but also the outer cornea of the +eyes; the stem sheath of the eyes; the lining of the stomach with the +internal teeth; the internal bones of the thorax; the lining membrane +of the ear, and that covering the lungs; thus very nearly turning +themselves inside out, as well as getting rid of their old suits of +clothes. But all these wonderful operations are not performed with the +ease with which the chrysalis sets free the painted butterfly, or the +village maid, by touch of fairy wand, throws off her homely garb, and +steps forth the gauzy glittering columbine in the transformation scene +of a pantomime; but are works of time and trouble, the body appearing +to dilate within its prison until the coffer-like cover formed by +the shell slowly and by degrees gives way, the membranes one by one +are torn asunder, the muscular tissue filling up the large claws and +pincers undergoes a softening process which admits of its being drawn +through the constrictions between the joints, and the crustacean and +his old garments part company at last. + +[Illustration] + +Between the loss of the old shell and the secretion of a new one, +nothing can be more unenviable than the position occupied by our +poor forlorn friend, who, like some fashionable exquisite during a +temporary misunderstanding with his tailor, seeks retirement and +obscurity. The pert young crablings, inquisitive, troublesome little +_gobies_, and irritating prawns, who a short time since treated him +with due respect, now pinch his unprotected skin and nibble at his poor +defenceless tail in a manner not to be endured; so he shuns society, +goes into dock for repairs, and waits for fresh _sheathing_ and his +new pincers to grow. These under favourable circumstances soon form, +and “Richard is himself again.” It is our opinion that these moultings +or changes do not, as some authors have stated, take place at regular +and stated intervals in the lives of the larger crustacea, as rapidity +of growth in particular individuals would tend to accelerate the +period for change, and it appears probable, from the number and size +of the marine molluscæ constantly found adhering to the shells of +fully-matured specimens (oysters of even six years’ growth having been +so discovered), that the changes of shell become less frequent as age +advances. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The most important member of the Crab family, in a commercial and +gustatory point of view, found in this country, is the large edible +Crab of the shops, _Cancer pagurus_, the subject of the annexed +illustration; and its capture not only gives employment to an immense +number of families along the sea-board of England and its home +dependencies, but forms an admirable school for the training of the +hardy mariners so much needed for both our navy and mercantile marine. +The professional _crabber_ is usually an expert boatman, and line, or +rather _hook_-fisher, in addition to his crab-catching powers. There +are several methods by which Crabs can be taken, but that usually +resorted to for the capture of the kind now under consideration is +by _crab pots_, or baskets, woven of unbarked willows.[2] These are +contrived much on the principles of the common wire mousetrap, a number +of points being arranged in funnel form at the entrance, so as to admit +of free ingress, but rendering exit quite a different affair, and one +by no means easy of accomplishment. The eel-basket, the salmon-_trip_, +and many other fish traps are made in much the same manner, with some +modifications as to material and size. Pieces of fish and fish offal +are usually used as bait for these contrivances. This is secured within +the basket, which, with a heavy stone as a sinker, and a long line with +a float attached to it, is lowered down from the boat amongst sunken +rocks and in the deep gulfs between reefs, where ledge, crevice, and +secret cranny are known to afford hiding-places to the sought-for prey; +and here the traps are allowed to rest, sometimes for the night, at +others a shorter period, just as convenience or the probability of a +take may suggest, when, the float being found and the line hauled in, +the pot with its contents are soon safely on board the boat. Where +many persons engage in the same occupation, it is necessary, in order +to avoid mistakes as to the identity of the traps, to have certain +distinguishing marks by which they may be known. Each fisherman, +therefore, has his own pattern for the float--one using a single piece +of circular form, another, a single square, whilst a third either piles +several pieces in conical form, or cuts a peculiarly-formed cross. A +plan we strongly recommend to those who wish to amuse themselves by +catching Crabs for their own use, is to use a large flat bung, made of +stout cork, nail a piece of strong tough wood, such as elm, to the +under surface, in order to prevent splitting, burn a hole with a hot +iron large enough for the float line to pass through, tie a knot or +work a Turk’s head on the end of the line, paint the upper surface of +the cork white, and then burn your initials deeply into the cork with a +branding iron. The crabbers as a body are rarely dishonest, but little +mistakes are at times made when crab-pots are insufficiently marked by +the owner, and Crabs at a premium; still there are very few so utterly +indifferent to the voice of public reprobation as to “_haul another +man’s pots_,” a crime in the eyes of a fishing community pretty much +on a par with stealing a sheep or robbing a church. Should you embark +in the crabbing line, take our earnest advice: provide yourself with +a boat with plenty of beam; have every rope, net, and line you use +tanned; and never let your boat’s _creeper_, or “killick,” go on rocky +ground without making use of the precaution shown in the accompanying +illustration, known as “Becueing,” or the loss of creeper and _creeper_ +line into the bargain will be very likely to follow. + +[Illustration] + +[2] Galvanized iron wire has been much advocated as a material for +their construction. + +It will be seen, on referring to the above cut, that the line after +having been secured to the ring at the head of the creeper shank, as +at A, is brought down and passed under one of the claws as at B. It is +again brought up until it meets the ring, to which it is secured with a +piece of common twine doubled, or a bit of single spun yarn, as at C. +It will be at once seen that, on either of the claws becoming fixed in +a rock or under a ledge (a matter of constant occurrence when fishing +from a moored boat), by pulling heavily on the line the twine or yarn +_stopper_ gives way, and the creeper becomes immediately free by being +capsized, and can then be readily hauled in. + +[Illustration] + +To safely bring a large fish to basket after it is hooked requires +skill, patience, and proper appliances. Hooks and their attachments to +the traces should be well looked to before commencing operations. There +are two modes of fastening on fish-hooks. One, as in the foregoing +cut A, is with well-waxed silk or thread, binding the hook-wire and +trace firmly and neatly together, and then finishing off by passing +the end of the lashing back under three or four turns of itself, _vide +cut_ B, and then drawing it tightly home. The other plan is by _half +hitches_, two or three of which are turned over the shaft of the hook +below the flattened end usually made to sea-hooks; when drawn tight +the turns of line may be pressed up compactly together with the thumb +nail. The accompanying cut C will better explain the mode of putting +on the hitches than would any written description. Both traces and +lines should have loops made in the ends; these, when run together by +what is called _the loop slip_, shown in the above illustration, make +a very neat and secure fastening. Stones are conveniently fastened +on as sinkers to lines mounted with many hooks; by the plan shown in +the above cut, no knots are made, and when the stone is removed the +loop falls out and leaves the line as before its attachment. Large +powerful fish should never be lifted into the boat by the tackle. A +wide, short-handled landing-net, and _gaff_, made from a large-sized +fish-hook, lashed to a staff, form an essential part of the equipment. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The owners of yachts, and families residing near the sea, will find a +few crab-pots, which can be made at a very trifling cost, a valuable +acquisition, as not only crabs, but lobsters, cray-fish, and prawns are +readily taken in them. Sea fishing-tackle will be found very useful, +as after having baited and laid down the _pots_ a number of fish may +be very often caught. These will be found acceptable as an addition +to the daily bill of fare, and such as are of inferior quality make +excellent crab-bait. It is not our intention to enter at any length +on a description of sea-fishing gear; still there are certain hints +and expedients relating to it which may not prove unacceptable to the +reader. Lines vary much in substance and length with the description of +fish it is intended to capture, cod, conger eels, hake, &c., requiring +them of considerable strength and power; but it will be found, as a +rule, that the lines used by the regular fishermen of our coasts are +much stouter than is necessary, and it may be depended on that the +finer the tackle is, consistent with the requisite strength to hold +the fish when hooked, the more successful will be the result of its +use. It is very seldom indeed that a _line_ is broken by a fish, unless +from some flaw or imperfection, the trace on which the hook is tied +being far more frequently the point of breakage. Strong silk-worm +gut, either single or twisted, is much to be preferred to the hemp +snoodings in common use for all traces but those used in the taking of +the very largest descriptions of sea-fish. The _round plait_ prepared +salmon line, sold by all fishing-tackle makers, answers admirably for +a general sea-line. The length may be proportioned to the depth of the +water it is intended to fish, but about thirty yards is a convenient +quantity to deal with. This should, for hand-line fishing, be kept +wound on a _frame reel_. One of these is easily made as follows:--Two +flat pieces of tough strong wood, such as oak or ash, about a foot +long, an inch and a half wide, and a quarter of an inch thick, are +to be prepared; at each end of these, at about two inches from the +extremity, a round hole is to be either bored, or burnt with a hot +iron. Two round wooden bars of about ten inches in length, and the size +of an ordinary walking-stick, are now to be prepared, cutting each +end to fit the holes in the flat bars, so that they may pass through +them, and extend about two inches beyond. A shoulder must be cut in +each joint, in order to prevent the bars from coming together; when +put in place they are secured with small pins or brads; but, before +fixing them, a round flat piece of cork is to be run on each round bar +to stick the points of the hooks in; the cut on p. 15 shows the shape +of the framework and the reel complete. Reels of this description +are much to be preferred to the common kind, on account of the free +ventilation they afford the lines when wound on them, and the freedom +from entanglements insured by the cork hook-holders. The traces before +referred to may be used of either single, double, or triple strands. +All gut before being knotted together should be steeped for ten minutes +or a quarter of an hour in _warm_, not hot, water; the curled portions +and ends are to be cut off, and the required number of lengths +selected as to stoutness. They can now be attached to each other by the +use of the gut knot, as shown in the preceding cut. This, when drawn +home and the ends trimmed off, forms a very secure fastening. To make +a double or triple gut trace it will be necessary to twist the strands +constituting it. This can be readily done by knotting the extreme ends +together and then placing them between the back spring and blade of a +common pocket-knife, as shown in the annexed cut. The other ends are +now taken by two or three persons, according to the number of strands +to be twisted, held between the finger and thumb, and turned until a +spinning motion is communicated to the knife hanging in the middle, +when the trace is very quickly finished,--six feet is a good length for +general purposes. All hook-lengths and traces should be attached to the +main line by brass swivels. A short, stiff rod, with stand-up rings, +fitted with a large-sized Nottingham reel, on which fifty or sixty +yards of prepared line has been wound, will be found useful for taking +many kinds of fish, and an extra joint or two adapts it for fishing +from rocks or pier heads. When using tackle of this description from +a boat for the capture of _small fish_, as pouting, chads, whiting, +&c. are commonly called, it will be found a good plan to employ a +foot trace of twisted gut, medium-sized trout-hooks tied on strong +single gut snoods; these may be looped on at eighteen inches apart. +The bottom of the trace must be secured to one of the conical sinkers +of sufficient weight to keep the line straight down against the run of +the tide. Bait with _rag-worm_, and commence fishing at about three +feet from the bottom, when, if the fish are not found feeding there, +shallow depths may be tried, or the ground itself just touched with the +lead, only taking care that a sufficient strain exists just to slightly +curve the top of the rod; on feeling a bite, strike sharply, and when +the fish is found to be hooked, draw the line in with the right hand, +whilst the rod is upraised in the left, until the prize is at the +surface, when, unless very diminutive indeed, the landing-net should be +made use of,--more fish are lost in weighing out than in any other way. +Large captives must be played until sufficiently passive to be safely +brought alongside and netted or gaffed. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Rod-fishing for mackerel bass, grey mullet, “_Atherene_” or sand +smelt, and several other descriptions, may, at times, be practised +with considerable success. We have taken great numbers of the two +former with both bait and artificial fly. Mackerel fishing with the +float-line affords, at certain seasons, excellent sport. A large cork +float, four-foot trace of single salmon gut, and one medium-sized +Limerick trout-hook should be used; three or four duck-shot will be +found, with the swivel, sufficient to keep the trace straight. Bait +with either pilchard gut, a strip cut from the tail of a freshly-caught +mackerel, or a long narrow ribbon of cuttle; cap the float to about +fourteen feet from the hook and let the bait drift off with the +tide. We have repeatedly taken numbers of mackerel in this way when +hand-lines of the usual pattern were not visited by a single fish. +For grey mullet, live shrimps or pieces of rag-worm will be found +the best baits. Smelts are taken by mounting a number of very small +hooks, No. 12 Kirby bend, on short pieces of very stiff gut looped on +to the main traces, at about six inches apart; a light sinker should +be made use of, and short junks of rag-worm used as bait. Smelts much +frequent localities where fresh water flows into the sea. Lead sinkers, +of any weight between seven or eight pounds and that of a buck-shot, +can be cast between two common Bath scouring bricks. Half the form +of the intended sinker is cut on each brick (after the surfaces have +been rendered smooth by rubbing them together) with a common knife or +chisel. The two halves, when exactly matched, are tied together with +tape and a small inlet hole made, through which the molten lead is +poured from an iron ladle, tobacco-pipe, or iron spoon; according to +the quantity of metal required: one brick is sufficient to cast simple +forms in, merely cutting out the shape and filling it up. All sorts of +articles in lead can be made in this way, without any of the dangers +which usually attend casting in clay or damp mould. The two kinds of +fishing leads represented in the above cut can be used for a great +number of purposes, and are mounted either single or double, as the +strength of the under current or run of the tide may render necessary, +by passing a few turns of fine packthread or spare snooding through the +holes at B, and bringing the flat surfaces of the leads in contact. A +great number of bass, codlings and other fish are, in many localities, +to be taken by laying out lines baited with whelk, hermit-crab, &c., +to meet the coming tide as it flows in over beaches or sand flats. A +heavy lead is often used as a means by which the line and baits are +not only kept at the bottom when they reach it, but is turned after +the manner of a sling round the head of the fisherman, and then cast +far out in the surf, to be withdrawn and again thrown as the take of +fish or renewal of bait may render necessary. There are many very +great inconveniences attendant on this mode of fishing, and it is far +better to lay down a _traveller_ when the tide is out. This is done as +follows:--Just before the turn of the tide and the coming in of the +young flood, select the spot at which you intend trying your fortunes, +and then search out a large heavy stone as your _traveller block_, +and thus prepare it, with strong twine or whipcord; take two or three +turns round the stone and securely fasten off with a knot; then attach +a common curtain ring or the link of an old chain. Lay your _block_ on +the edge of the water, pass one end of your fishing-line through the +ring, and walk back with it some distance up the beach, allowing the +other end to be given off the reel until the spot at which the first +end was dropped is reached. The line will now be doubled; one half +has hooks on short traces, as many as it is thought expedient to use, +mounted on it. The other half is free from hooks, in order that it +may run through the ring without entanglement. A small piece of stick +is knotted on the line close to the first hook, so that it cannot be +pulled through the ring, as shown in the illustration on p. 21. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The arrangement is now complete and ready for baiting. It will be seen +that as one line is drawn in, the other travels out towards the block, +so that as the fish are hooked they are brought to land, the hooks are +fresh baited, and the contrivance hauled out again without the trouble +of throwing the lead. As the tide comes the fisherman walks back until +he reaches high-water mark. + +On some of our coasts a great number of Crabs are taken with the +_crab-hook_. This is a sharp strong hook of tough iron, fastened to +the end of a stout wooden staff, or pole, and the best time to use +it is when the sea recedes during spring tides, and makes what among +fishermen, is called a “_great out_.” At such times a great number +of deep rock pools and hollow ledges become accessible, which during +ordinary tides are far beneath the waves, and now is the harvest of +the adventurous crab-hunter, who, hook in hand, climbs and scrambles +among the slippery stones and weed-covered crags, to where narrow cleft +and dark recess give promise of Crab’s lurking-places, when with a +cautious probing motion, the curved instrument is thrust onward along +the hidden galleries beneath the rock, until the practised hand detects +the hoped-for impediment, when with one sudden, dexterous, backward +stroke of his weapon he withdraws the retiring Cancer from his snug +retreat, and exposes him to the garish light of day. Give him but one +instant for reflection, and up goes his back against the roof of his +hole, when, except by literally pulling him in pieces, extraction is +a sheer impossibility; and it is in consequence of this exceedingly +unaccommodating habit of his, that would-be crab-catchers have been +at times crab caught, and their incautious groping hands held fast +as though in the vice of some sea Vulcan, until the flowing tide has +put an end to both their struggles and sufferings. The tenacity of a +crab’s grip is perfectly extraordinary and all but incredible. A hold +once taken is seldom let go, and the battles which frequently take +place among these pugnacious gentry give ample scope for the exercise +of their tremendous nippers; and nature has most wisely provided them +with the power of throwing off such limbs as may be either seized by +the enemy or seriously injured; and should they chance to encounter +an antagonist from whom it appears wise to beat a retreat, our friend +firmly seizes him by the most tender spot he can select, sets his +pincers nipping and grinding in the most excruciating manner, and +then rapidly detaching and leaving them in possession, darts off to +the first sanctuary within his reach. To most living creatures the +unceremonious sacrifice of limbs in this way would lead to almost +immediate loss of life from hemorrhage, but a wise provision is also +made for this contingency. The division taking place at a constricted +portion of the joint of a limb admits of the vessels drawing themselves +in, and so stopping the flow of blood. A thin membrane soon covers the +stump, and in due time another limb replaces that which has been lost +or cast away. In some localities the haunts of the Crab are discovered +by fastening pieces of waste fish to the ends of short, strong lines, +and then, after attaching long stones by their middles to the other +ends, strewing them about among the rocks and pools; at the ebbing of +the tide, these tell-tale stones are sought for as they rest outside +and across the dwelling-places of the Crabs, which when found are not +only “made a note of,” but the tenants either by hook or crook brought +to light with little ceremony. + +Some little judgment is required to select a thoroughly good Crab for +the table, and as the choice usually lays amongst dead specimens, a +few hints on the subject will not perhaps prove unacceptable. A male +Crab is generally to be preferred to a female, on account of the larger +development of claw, &c. The sexes may readily be distinguished by +examining the flat, peak-shaped, flap-like tail, which will be found +curled beneath the under-surfaces of the body. This in the male is +narrow, whilst in the female it is wide and of different form. A good +Crab should feel heavy in the hand, and on being sharply shaken no +sound or movement of fluid heard. The large nippers should at the same +time remain tucked tightly up, and not hang loosely from the body. The +absence of freshness is a defect too obvious and important to need +comment. + +The proper mode of boiling Crabs has long been a subject on which +_doctors have disagreed_. Who then shall decide? That there is cruelty +associated with the taking away of life, it would be hard to deny, but +the correctness of choice between gradual stewing in slowly-heating +water, and being plunged at once into the seething, bubbling cauldron, +requires “_the revelations of a boiled crab_” to clear up; and until +a crustacean production under that or a like title appears, we shall +continue to plunge our armour-clad victims in water at 212 degrees of +Fahrenheit’s thermometer, and leave the question as to the propriety of +our so doing to those who are disposed to grapple with the subject for +its own sake. + +The change of colour which takes place in many of the crustacea during +the process of boiling, has long been a subject of remark. The common +and edible Crabs of this country have their tints far less affected +than the lobster, the peculiarly rich blue shade of whose shell when in +a living state is too well known to need any lengthened description; +this, as is well known, changes to a bright red in the cooking-pot, +and the uniform of the _police_ is exchanged for that of the _line +regiments_. This strange metamorphosis, researches have shown to be +entirely dependent on chemical laws. The pigment on which the blue +shading and tint depend, is a peculiar fat-like substance, which +possesses the singular property of becoming scarlet when subjected to +70 degrees of heat shown in the _centigrade_ thermometer. A colouring +matter of very similar properties was some time since discovered in the +beaks and legs of certain birds. + +The lobster pigment is soluble in spirits of wine, by which agent +it can be extracted from the shell; but the colour changes at once +from blue to red. And on adding either nitric or sulphuric acid, +the charged spirit is changed to a green of a remarkably _fast_ or +permanent character. Who shall say, as fresh discoveries are made and +new solvents brought to light, that lobster shells may not become +more valuable than the appetising fish they once contained! We see no +reason why the dormant sprite, who lies hid in the coat of sea mail, +should not be roused from his long sleep and set to work with the +other kobolds who do the will of the mighty magician _chemistry_; and +little dreams the fascinating belle, who has been made “_beautiful for +ever_,” how much those same kobolds have had to do with the process. +_Bismuth_, from the deep-mine cavern, gives to the skin the pearly +white so much prized: the cochineal bug, from the prickly cactus +thickets, the roseate hue (“_The Turkish Bloom of Health_”) which is +said, in the flowery language of the advertisers, to impart to the +cheek the attractive lustre of the ripe peach. The elegant _mauve_ +dress, ribbons, and gloves, are “tinctured” by a toiling imp residing +in _gas tar_. “_Lovely things_” in green too are industriously turned +out by two quaint, but rather dangerous and mischievously disposed +gentlemen of the elfish crew, Messrs. Arsenic and Copper, who work in +partnership, and whose attractive joint productions some time since +poisoned a number of the sea-green nymphs of a Parisian ballet. How +far more appropriate and safe would it have been to draw from the rich +stores of king Neptune the materials with which to dye the drapery of +the stage mermaid and seaside beauty, and we hope ere long to see “_the +new lobster-shell green_,” under some tremendously sonorous Greek name +(without which success would be doubtful), “_the fashionable colour_.” + +[Illustration] + +The juvenile members of most of our seaside communities are much +given to crab-fishing, and may be seen from early morn to evening +late, dangling their legs over some convenient rock, sea-wall, or +landing-steps, and with a piece of twine to which a dainty morsel of +fish offal has been tied, doing their best to induce some greedy young +crabling to grasp it with his nippers, when, with a sudden jerk and +triumphant shout, the deluded victim is pitched out high and dry before +he knows what he is about, and is then tied by the leg and led about +like a lilliputian pig, who strongly objects to either going to market +or staying at home. Fortunately for him he is not very good to eat, or +as a rule very large; still his captors, when they do secure him of +even ordinary dimensions, treat him to a pot of boiling water, and let +him go cheap. This description of crustacean is known as the Harbour +or Shore Crab (_Carcinus maenas_), and is represented in the preceding +cut. He is a weed of almost every soil, and a perfect pest to those who +fish in estuaries and tidal rivers, nibbling off the bait in a manner +past all endurance, and when the watchful angler, anticipating the +presence of a plump and silvery fish at the end of the line, raises his +fishing-rod aloft, there hangs instead, a green, mud-coloured little +imp, clawing the air like an enraged spider, making himself in fact in +every way obnoxious and disagreeable. + +Then there are other members of the same amiable race, with whom he who +fishes the sea with nets will not be long before he makes acquaintance. +These are the _swimming Crabs_, of which there are numerous species. +These differ materially from the kinds we have described, in habits, +appearance, and structure. By the use of their powerful oar-like +legs they are enabled to propel themselves through the water with +great rapidity and precision, and by darting among the meshes of the +fishing-nets they become so hopelessly entangled, that a “_Fiddler +Crab_” (as it is sometimes called from the rapidity with which it +works its elbows) in a _trammel net_, is often used by fishermen as a +standard with which to compare cases of the most utter bewilderment. +The annexed cut represents one of these, the Velvet Swimming Crab +(_Portunus puber_). + +[Illustration] + +The still, deep, lagunes, within the coral reefs, in the southern and +eastern seas, contain creatures of this class most exquisite in form +and colour, and we have often looked down into some clear, well-like +gulf between the branching coralines, clustering sponges, and actinea +of countless hues, and watched the marvellous episodes of deep-sea life +there passing beneath; fringes of crystal arms, disc-like mouths, and +far-stretching tendril-shaped legs, wave from every point and ledge, +whilst crustaceans, as of animated enamel work, accompanied by fish, +like living gems, troop restlessly in and out and to and fro, in an +endless throng. + +_Anthozoa_, those living, ocean blossoms, spread their petals of a +thousand hues, whilst the family of _Medusidæ_ float like shadows +through the tranquil depths. + + “Now it is pleasant in the summer eve, + When a broad shore retiring waters leave, + Awhile to wait upon the firm fair sand, + When all is calm at sea, all still at land; + And there the ocean’s produce to explore. + As floating by, or rolling on the shore + Those living jellies which the flesh inflame, + Fierce as a nettle, and from that their name: + Some in huge masses, some that you may bring + In the small compass of a lady’s ring: + Figured by Hand Divine--there’s not a gem + Wrought by man’s art to be compared to them; + Soft, brilliant, tender, through the wave they glow, + And make the moonbeams brighter where they flow. + Involved in sea-wrack, here you find a race, + Which science doubting, knows not where to place. + On shell or stone is dropped the embryo seed, + And quickly vegetates a vital breed; + While thus with pleasing wonder you inspect + Treasures the vulgar in their scorn reject. + See as they float along th’ entangled weeds, + Slowly approach, upborne on bladdery beads. + Wait till they land, and you shall then behold + The fiery sparks those tangled fronds infold + Myriads of living points; the unaided eye + Can but the fire and not the form descry. + And now your view upon the ocean turn, + And there the splendour of the waves discern: + Cast but a stone, or strike them with an oar, + And you shall flames within the deep explore; + Or scoop the stream phosphoric as you stand, + And the cold flames shall flash along your hand. + When lost in wonder, you shall walk and gaze + On weeds that sparkle, and on waves that blaze.” + + CRABBE. + +Spider Crabs are there, too, both here and in the seas, washing our own +island, with limbs so long and attenuated, and bodies so small, that +they look more like overgrown DADDY LONGLEGS going through a course of +sea-bathing than aught else, and we almost begin to think they must be +marine spiders after all, and wonder where the sea-flies are, and what +sort of webs they would spin to catch them in. The Indian seas have +inhabitants of the serpent order, which are by no means safe to meddle +with. They, too, desport after their own manner:-- + + “Beyond the shadow of the ship + I watched the water snakes; + They moved in tracks of shining white, + And when they reared, the elfish light + Fell off in hoary flakes. + + “Within the shadow of the ship + I watched their rich attire, + Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, + They coiled and swam; and every track + Was a flash of golden fire.” + + “_Ancient Mariner._” + +The subject of the annexed illustration is the common slender Spider +Crab (_Stenorynchus tenuirostris_), frequently captured on our own +coast. Some of these queer gentry, near relatives of his, are as +prickly as a chestnut husk, and have claws like crooked tobacco-pipe +stems. No cook even in the last stage of insanity could hope to utilize +them. + +[Illustration] + +Then we have the soft-tailed, _Soldier_, or _Hermit Crabs_, who, +because they are insufficiently clad by nature, seize on the first +convenient shell they can discover, and then, by adroitly introducing +the point of the tail, slip into it, much as a skilful stage demon +vanishes through a _vampire trap_. Vacant shells are not always +selected as mansions; those with inhabitants are not unfrequently taken +possession of, when a process of forcible ejectment is had recourse to, +and the hapless mollusc is soon gobbled up, and his house occupied +by the spoiler. _Pagurus Bernhardus_, the subject of the annexed +illustration, is no doubt familiar to many of our readers, as most of +the little salt-water ponds amongst the rocks and stones have one or +more of these tiny hermitages in them. Whelk-shells are very commonly +found inhabited by the pagurus we are describing, and large numbers, +under the name of _Crab Whelks_, are collected, and used as bait, after +the shell and hard structures have been removed by breaking them off +with a hammer. + +[Illustration] + +_Pea Crabs_ there are also, living at free quarters in houses not their +own; but of these we shall have more to say further on. The Hermits +we find on our coasts are perfect pigmies when compared with some of +the species found in and about the tropic seas, who, dwelling in the +huge helmet-like shells with which these warm regions abound, spend +almost as much of their lives out of the sea as in it, consume large +quantities of vegetable matter, and appear capable of supporting life +for some time without absolutely going into the water. + +Tenantless mollusc shells are not the only dwelling places of the +Hermits, and other species of Crabs, and they have, from periods of +remote antiquity to our own day, been found in situations in which they +apparently have no reasonable right to be. This has given rise to much +learned disputation, and not a few wild theories and quaint conceits. + +That matchless piece of nature’s handiwork, the Philippine Island +sponge (see next page)--Venus’s Flower Basket, or _Euplectella +speciosa_, of naturalists--which has recently attracted so much +attention in the British Museum and among the scientific world, was, +about a year since, accidentally hauled up from the bottom of the sea, +entangled on a fish-hook, by a native who was fishing for rock cod +off the Island of Zebu, one of the Philippine group. Since the first +discovery, numerous specimens have been obtained in the same locality, +and from 30_l._ (the price paid for the fisherman’s prize) the value +has progressively become less. Still purchasers are numerous enough +to make flower-basket hunting a remunerative occupation for some time +to come. It is perfectly impossible, even with the aid of pictorial +illustration, to give an adequate idea of the elegance and beauty of +this extraordinary production. Of cornucopiæ form, and of the finest +Brussels lace texture, it stands like a network vase among a tuft of +crystal threads. The cover, like that of some antique flagon, crowns +the top, and completes the strange resemblance to man’s most skilled +and perfect productions. Venus herself might well be proud of such +a flower-basket; but like many other things of beauty, there are +mysteries round their growth and formation. One of these, is the almost +invariable presence of the remains of one or more Crabs in the interior +of this, to them, crystal prison, out of which escape is just as +impossible as from a capsuled bottle. Many differences of opinion exist +as to the mode by which the Crabs first obtained an entrance; there +appears, however, little doubt that this is effected whilst the sponge +is in an immature condition, and before the cover is woven. There +is a young specimen which we have examined in the British Museum in +this incomplete state, and it is questionable whether the basket-like +tube is ever covered until it has reached maturity; when, although +the sponge appears to cease growing in an upward direction, the power +possessed by it to secrete the silicious matter of which the network is +composed remains unimpaired, and, like a skilful artisan as he is, he +at once repairs neatly such injuries as his crystal palace may sustain. + +[Illustration] + +Dr. Gray has in his possession a specimen in which a repair of this +kind has been effected. A hole appears to have been broken by some +accident in one of the sides about half-way between the point of +attachment and the cover. A new network of fibres in bunches has +been substituted for the broken ones--of form much like the original +structure. The peculiar curved or _cornucopia_ shape before referred +to, and usually, although not invariably, assumed by these baskets, +has also given rise to much speculation amongst the scientific. Dr. +Gray gives it as his opinion that the weight of the Crab when crawling +through the interior of the tube, may influence the direction in +which the basket is found to incline. He says: “As the Crab becomes +imprisoned in the cavity, it will be constantly walking up and down +the tube to procure food, and by so doing will, most likely, bend the +tube on one side, so that the free end of the tube may become bent +down nearly to the level of the base;” and it remains an open question +whether this is the true solution of the enigma, or, like the goblet +forms of some species of sponges, and the rounded contour of others, +the cornucopia form of growth may not, after all, be that common to _E. +speciosa_. + +It appears to be the prevailing opinion amongst the fishermen by whom +the Euplectella is taken, and by whom it is known as the _Rigederos_, +“that it is the work of two insects (meaning probably the Crabs found +in the tubes) at the bottom of the sea.” A French correspondent in +writing recently to the authorities of the British Museum, expresses +his opinion that the Euplectella is the work of the Crabs. There are +very grave reasons, however, why this opinion should be received with +the greatest caution, if not absolute doubt. In the first place, we +know of no crustacean possessing a like power of silicious secretion +and construction. Then the Crabs which are found inclosed are not +always of the same species, or even genera. Dr. Gray is of opinion +that one which he examined through the meshes was a _Pagurus_, and of +habits identical with those which we have already described. Crabs with +such investigating and intrusive instincts as these, would not fail +to explore the inmost recesses of a hollow tube of such a tempting +appearance as the young, growing, and coverless Euplectella would +present; and what more probable than that, as the tube became perfected +and the lid partly made, the Crab or Crabs might still continue to +inhabit it, until the orifice being at last closed up, and escape +impossible, our friend remained a prisoner for life. His cast-off +shells, like old worn-out garments, would remain sealed up securely +with him, and give the idea that many Crabs had there resided. + +The ancients, although totally ignorant of the existence of the +beautiful lace-work basket we have described, and the creatures +dwelling within them, were nevertheless perfectly aware of the presence +of small Crabs in the shells of the great silk-yielding mussel (_Pinna +nobilis_), who, because he had no visual organs himself, was supposed +to need the services of a vigilant submarine watchman, sharp of ear and +keen of eye--a sort of _concierge_, in fact--to attend to the door and +keep out all unwelcome visitors. + +The researches of Lamarck go to show that the ancient writers were +generally of opinion that these Crabs were especially employed as +general guardians and inseparable companions to the Pinna, that they +had one common birth, and that the one could not exist without the +other,--the absence of vision in the Pinna being compensated for by +the vigilance of the Crab, whilst in matters requiring power and +resistance, _Cancer_ had only to give the required sign by a gentle +nip, when his partner, with the strength of a sea-giant, shut his +shell-trap-door on all the inquisitive, intrusive little fish within +the fatal portal, when the firm of _Pinna_ and _Crab_ made remarkably +short reckonings with them. We read that in 1749, Hasselquist, +the distinguished naturalist, undertook a voyage to the Levant, +and corresponded with Linnæus during his travels. In one of his +communications he thus writes from Smyrna:--“Amongst others they sell +here a _sepia_, or cuttle-fish, which by them is called Οκτωποδια. It +has only eight tentacles all of equal length. The whole animal is a +foot long, and thick in proportion. Of this the Greeks have related an +anecdote which I think remarkable. The _Pinna muricata_, or great silk +mussel, is here found in the bottom of the sea in large quantities, and +is a foot long. The cuttle-fish watches the opportunity when the mussel +opens her shell to creep in and devour her; but a little Crab which +has scarcely any shell, or has at least only a very thin one, lodges +constantly in this shell-fish. She pays a good rent by saving the life +of her landlady, for she keeps a constant look-out through the aperture +of the shell, and on seeing the enemy approach she begins to stir, when +the πινα (for so the Greeks call the shell-fish) shuts up her house, +and the rapacious animal is excluded. I saw this shell-fish first at +the Island of Milo, and found such a little Crab in all I opened. I +wondered not a little what was her business there; but when I came +here, I was first informed of it by the Secretary of our Consul, M. +Justi, a curious and ingenious man, who has travelled much, and lived +long in this place. This was afterwards confirmed by several Greeks who +daily catch and eat both these animals.” + +The common Pea Crab (_Pinnotheres pisum_), represented in the annexed +cut, and of enlarged scale, is an inhabitant of our own coasts, and +frequently found residing within the shell of the common edible mussel, +(_Mytilus edulis_); but it is very remarkable that the female Crabs are +very much more numerous than the males, and that although the male Crab +may be at times captured at a distance from his strange lodging, we +know of no instance of a female being taken in any situation but within +the shell of some mollusc. Aristotle speaks of this small mail-clad +janitor as a little fish with claws, like those of a Crab, which keeps +guard and ward for the _Pinna_, grows to her mouth, and acts as her +caterer. Pliny too remarked and described the apparently anomalous +association. He speaks of the Pinna as a shell-fish that is found in +muddy waters, always erect, and never without a companion of the Crab +kind. Oppiannus not only knew that Crabs existed commonly in the Pinna +shells, but clearly conceived that it was their duty and mission to do +so. Thus he writes:-- + +[Illustration] + + “The Pinna and the Crab together dwell + For mutual succour in one common shell; + They both to gain a livelihood combine,-- + _That_ takes the prey when _this_ has given the sign. + From hence this Crab above his fellows famed + By ancient Greeks was _Pinnatores_ named.” + +[Illustration] + +The accompanying illustration, on a very enlarged scale, represents +the pinna’s companion, _Pinnotheres veterum_, which will be seen at +a glance to differ materially in appearance from _P. pisum_. The +mussel is not the only shell in which _P. pisum_ finds ready-furnished +lodgings. The common cockle (_Cardium edule_), and in some instances +the ordinary oyster, being selected to supply them. Mr. W. Thompson, in +writing on the crustaceans of Ireland, says, “The smallest Pinnotheres +I have seen was found by Mr. Hyndman, in a living _Cardium exignum_, +dredged up by us in Strangford Lough, in October, 1834. It is a male. +The carapace is under a line in length; the entire breadth of the +Crab from the extremities of the outstretched legs is three lines. +The cardium is under three lines in length, and barely exceeds that +admeasurement in breadth; so that the Crab, when in the position just +mentioned, must have on both sides touched the walls of his chosen +prison. The _Pinnotheres_ likewise inhabits the _Cardium edule_. +Before me is one of these Crabs, of which the carapace is two lines +in breadth, obtained by Mr. Hyndman in a full-grown _C. edule_ from +Strangford Lough; but from the Sligo coast where this Crab attains +an extraordinary large size, a Crab with a carapace four lines in +breadth, and with outstretched legs seven lines across, was once kindly +brought to me by Lord Enniskillen. Mr. R. Ball informs me that on two +occasions he obtained a great number of the Pinnotheres, and which were +all males, from the _Cardium edule_, when at Youghal. About nine out +of every ten cockles contained a Crab. On opening oysters at Tenby in +Wales he has procured the Pinnotheres. This Crab, like the _Pagurus_, +occupies different species of shells according to its size, and at +every age, and generally selects such as with outstretched legs it +would fill from side to side.” + +Another extraordinary instance of anomalous association is to be +found in the habits of the _Pagurus prideauxii_, which is invariably +found with the cloak Anemone (_Adamsia palliata_) adhering to it, +and so strong are the mysterious bonds of relationship, friendship, +or whatever it may be called, which bind them together, that on the +Pagurus finding it requisite to increase the size of his borrowed +mansion, the Anemone, like a chosen companion as he is, follows to the +new home, being deftly held by the nippers of the fresh inhabitant +until enabled to obtain a firm hold just outside the portal, where it +remains until some other removal is made, or more commodious quarters +required. From these sociable house-hunting adventurers we pass on to +the burrowing Crabs, of which there are many kinds, indulging in habits +most curious and noteworthy. Perhaps the most remarkable of these, is +the great Cocoa-nut Eating Crab, or “_Ou-Ou_,” as it is called by the +natives of some of the localities in which it is met with. It is the +_Birgus latro_ of naturalists, and is well represented, although on a +very reduced scale in the illustration next page. It is found in many +of the Coral Islands dotting the Indian seas and Pacific ocean, and +beneath the rustling, waving, cocoa-nut groves, which abound within +the torid zone. The _Ou-Ou_ forms for himself a home, delving and +burrowing, miner-like, beneath the wide-spreading roots of the tropic +trees, and excavating deep and cunningly-formed galleries and chambers +in the coral sand and broken shells; and one is almost disposed to +think that the following lines by Thomson must have been penned in all +the fervour of a poet’s admiration for the happy lot of our friend of +subterranean proclivities:-- + + “Sheltered amid the orchards of the sun, + Where high palmettos lift their graceful shade, + Give me to drain the cocoa’s milky bowl, + And from the palm to drain its fresh’ning wine, + More bounteous far than all the frantic juice + Which Bacchus pours.” + +[Illustration] + +Here, like a feudal baron of old, he forms for himself a stronghold, +sallying forth like a freebooter, to feast on the spoils of the +grove. Curious stories are related of these marauders, and it has +been gravely asserted that they have been known to ascend the tall +stalks of the cocoa palms for the purpose of detaching and throwing +down the nuts. We are not prepared to say that particular palms +(when in a more than ordinarily sloping posture) may not been have +climbed in the manner stated by certain species. Our own experience, +however, strongly disposes us to think that such nuts as from time +to time fall to the ground from ordinary causes, constitute the +prizes commonly appropriated by _B. latro_. His enormously powerful +and ponderous nippers enable him to husk and rend these from their +tenacious coatings with surprising speed and facility; and it is only +necessary to examine the cocoa-nut husks with the nuts within them, +as imported from abroad, to be convinced that our nut-eating friend +must be a veritable crustacean Hercules, to be capable of such feats +of strength, as the dragging forth of the treasures from their dense +fibrous envelopes unquestionably are; and a Hercules he is in his own +way, for the tenacious wire-like network of cocoa fibre in which the +nut is inclosed, is torn, split, and rent asunder, as though with +the iron pincers of a brawny blacksmith, until the coveted dainty +is set free. One end of every common cocoa-nut has, as most of our +readers are aware, three holes in it; these, from their position and +quaint resemblance to the face of a living creature, are called the +monkey’s face. One of these holes is selected as a point of attack, +and a succession of adroitly-delivered and heavy raps are rapidly +given with the large claw. An opening, or breach, is thus very quickly +effected. The narrow pair of nippers now come into operation, and by +dexterously inserting them, the whole of the white, sweet, oleaginous +contents are deftly scooped and clawed out. _B. latro_ has a keen eye +to future wants as well as to present enjoyment; he is not only a +gourmand, but pretty much of a utilitarian; so he employs his sharp, +powerful claws in carding and combing up the bundles of tangled coir, +remaining after his husk-splitting operation. This, by dint of much +clawing to and fro, at length becomes almost as fine as tow, or the +oakum used by shipwrights. When sufficiently manipulated, he gathers +together the result of his labours, and transports it to the inmost +recesses of his subterranean stronghold beneath the roots; a bed is +here made from it, on which our friend reclines; and it helps to form +a convenient covering and protection for him when debarred from the +pleasures and delights of Crab society during the uncomfortable process +of shell-changing. The crafty human inhabitants of these wave-washed +isles, are too well versed in the habits of our friend, and too well +aware of his provident habits, not to avail themselves of the stores +of well-preserved fibre thus laid up; advantage is therefore taken of +the buried store, which is unceremoniously dragged forth, collected +together, and made use of for caulking the seams of their canoes, and +many other useful purposes. During the period of comparative torpidity +usually accompanying the shell-shifting process, the wants of nature +are wonderfully and wisely provided for. These strange creatures are +each furnished with a species of natural magazine, containing fatty +matter, which they carry beneath their tails. Some Crabs of large size +have been known to yield enough to produce a quart of oil, limpid, of +excellent quality, and highly esteemed by the natives. _B. latro_ is +much given to nocturnal rambling, and frequent visits are by him paid +to localities within the cheering influences of the salt-sea wave; but +we do not agree with those writers who have accused him of nightly +hydropathic journeys. During the breeding season some considerable time +is spent by the whole family in exploring the countless rock-pools +and lagunes between the coral reefs. Here, after the departure of +the parents for their homes amongst the roots, the juvenile crabs +continue to desport themselves, until grown strong enough to attack +the nuts on their own account, when they proceed to join their seniors +in the family diggings. The natives, when they set their minds on a +Crab-hunting expedition, provide themselves with much the same kind +of equipment as a party of English gamekeepers would use when about +to extract a secretive badger from his burrow. Digging, and that of +the most determined and energetic description, is the favourite method +of bringing the game to light, which desirable consummation is rarely +arrived at until a very large amount of loud shouting and needless +leaping about has been had recourse to. The unfortunate Crabs are very +good to eat, and they appear thoroughly aware of it, making use of +every effort in their power to avoid capture. They are, nevertheless, +ruthlessly overtaken in the subterranean race, dragged forth into the +broad sunlight, ignominiously bound with cords twisted from the tough +fibre of the cocoa husk (a very requisite precaution by the bye), and +lugged off into hopeless captivity. + +Some of these nut-feeders grow to a monstrous size (some being over two +feet long), are armed with nippers of most formidable dimensions, and +make no more of snapping the strong cord, with which the Crab-catchers +endeavour to secure them, than if they were as many strands of +packthread. At certain seasons of the year a vegetable diet appears to +become unpalatable to our friend. He then seeks a change, and levies +open and indiscriminate warfare on all the tribe of shell-bearing +molluscs he can lay his thievish claws on, not giving even the ghost +of a chance of escape. He seizes them forcibly with his nippers, and +then extracts them from their snug shell-castles, with a dexterity +which an accomplished London shell-fish dealer might look on with +envy; and then, not content with devouring the ill-fated tenant, he +performs a sort of grotesque defiant, and triumphal march, with the +vacant shell raised like a standard, aloft in his claws, as if for +the express purpose of inciting other Crabs more peaceably disposed +and less nefarious in their habits, to the perpetration of outrages +of a similar character. Take him for all in all, _B. latro_ may be +considered anything but a well-conducted member of the family to which +he belongs. His name denotes the character which he has fully earned +and universally maintains. + +The countless thousands of islands, reefs, and spots of newly-formed +land dotting the South Seas and Indian Ocean, are ever on the increase. +The foundations of these are firmly laid at the sea’s bottom by legions +of that tiny toiler of the deep, the coral insect, and year by year, +and age by age, his ceaseless labours progress upward and ever upward +towards the light of heaven; layer by layer, and ledge by ledge, are +formed, until the pigmy beginning grows to be a strong sea-wall, like +the ramparts of some Old World fortress. In time, the green wave +breaks and feathers on its crest, whilst other walls slowly but surely +raise their masses from beneath. Within their circling grasp, a still +rock lake at length is formed, round which the angry billows roll +and thunder, chafing at the mighty barrier disputing their dominion. +Here, within the safe, still pool, collect the thousand and one waifs +and strays, ever to be found floating or driven by the tide currents. +Fragments of wreck from distant shores, dead fish, empty mollusc +shells, echini, sea-weed, and drift-wood cast far out to sea by the +floods of the great rivers of the tropics;--all these, and innumerable +other objects, find a resting-place on the newly-formed rocks, and in +due time are broken up by decay, but are always added to by the same +great store, until, wave-borne in their rough, strong, buoyant husks, +come cocoa-nuts and other seeds. These quickly germinate, sprout up, +and send their roots far out in search of nutriment, and thus bind +the loose materials of the new-formed ground together. Watered by +the tropic showers and sea spray, the little sea-girt forest grows +apace, and the wandering sea-fowl, and migratory birds are not slow +in converting it into a haven of rest for their wearied pinions. +These last visitors bring in their crops, from far-off continents and +islands, the seeds of many shrubs and plants, which, falling amongst +elements congenial to their growth, rapidly spring into life, and, like +the trees amongst which they find shelter, bear seed in their turn, and +in due season die, to afford food for their successors in the kingdom +of plants. Man claims some of these realms as his own; others are left +to such inhabitants as nature may people them with. The West India +Islands, too, are inhabited by many curious and interesting members +of the Crab family: one of these known as the Land Crab (_Gecarcinus +ruricola_), is pretty much of a highlander in his nature. The upland +solitudes are most to his taste, and here he forms for himself a snug +retreat beneath the earth of the hill-side. As the spawning season +approaches, a mighty gathering of the clans takes place, and whole +legions unwarned by fiery cross, or blazing beacon, hasten forth to +join the living tide flowing onward towards the sea. Through the +tangled jungle, down the rock-strewn ravine, over fallen tree-trunks, +and among the dense undergrowth of the forest, in ceaseless, creeping, +crawling, scuttling thousands; still they come onward, and ever +onward, as the bright stars shine out to light them on their way. +Banks, hedges, walls, and even houses are passed straight over in this +crustacean steeplechase, no flags being needed to keep the mail-clad +competitors to the true course--instinct the guide, and the blue sea +for a goal, nothing stops the race. + +Cuffee and his companions, who have been gossiping and story-telling +beneath their cocoa-leaf roofs until half-asleep, appear to become +most violent and incurable lunatics, on suddenly becoming aware of +the nocturnal exodus: they leap high in the air, shout, scream, and +dance like fiends, whilst the most ready-witted of the crew dash off +to _de massa_ with the startling news. “Hi, golly, sa; de Crab, de +Crab! he come for sure dis time, sure nuff; plenty catch um bum by;” +and Cuffee keeps his word to the letter, and captures the pilgrims by +the basketful, in spite of their claws; and black-faced woolley-headed +Aunt Lilly, the cook, shows her teeth like ivory dominoes in an ebony +box, as visions of white, snow-like rice, cocoa-nut milk, capsicum +pods, and stewpans pass in pleasing and appetising review before her, +and massa himself takes an extra pull at the cold sangaree jug, sleeps +pleasantly, and dreams of the Crab feast of the morrow. + +At the termination of the spawning season the survivors return to their +homes among the hills; and but little notice is taken of them now, as +they night by night bend their weary steps on the backward march, poor, +low-conditioned, and unfit for human food, like the salmon-kelt on his +journey to the sea. A short residence in his earth burrow serves to set +our friend the Crab on his legs again, and make even better food of him +than can be prepared during the migration. Sugar-cane plantations are +his delight, and in them he regales himself like an alderman, nipping +through the crisp rind of the sugar-bearing reed, sucking the luscious +juices and clawing out the sweet contents, until a rustling sound warns +him that Nemesis, in the form of our old friend Cuffee, is not far +off, and that active individual, accompanied by a prick-eared cur, and +armed with a spike-pointed cane, pounces down on the very spot where +_G. ruricola_, Esq. had been so pleasantly regaling himself, and now +commences a fierce and relentless action. + +_Cuffee, Cur, and Spike, v. Crab._ Ever on the alert, Crab darts off +backwards with astonishing rapidity, keeping a very bright eye on +the cur, who rushes pell-mell after him through the canes, cheered on +by the shouts and “Ya, ya’s” of his sable master, whose aim it is to +head back the Crab, or pin him with his spike. This latter feat he +all but accomplishes; but the Crab darts like lightning a couple of +feet backwards, and then shoots off at right angles with the agility +of a sprite. One more rapid dart in the opposite direction, the spike +is furiously hurled by baffled Cuffee, and is within an inch of +transfixing the cur, who sniffs and whines disconsolately at the mouth +of a hole, which leads he knows not whither. + +When hunting amongst the grass jungles of the Mahratta country, we were +greatly amused at the quaint proceedings of a species of Crab which at +certain seasons abounds there. These little fellows, members of the +genus _Thelphusa_, were, when we saw them, busily engaged in their hay +harvest, and actively engaged in mowing the grass. This they did in +the most curiously quaint and elfish manner, sitting bolt upright and +working their sharp scissors like nippers right and left, until enough +to form a bundle had been gathered; then, with this, compactly rolled +up in sheafs, off they would trot to their holes, and when the load had +been safely disposed of, back they would scuttle for others with quite +as much bustle, fuss, and excitement as if they had been the owners +of a large estate, a hundred acres of meadow hay to get in, and the +barometer at change. So we left our funny, clever, energetic little +friends with a good speed, hard at it, making hay whilst the sun shone. + +[Illustration] + +These little fellows, we have every reason to think, are purely inland +in their habits, and we know of no instance of their being known to +travel either singly or in bodies to the sea coast. A member of the +same genera, represented in the annexed cut, is found in many parts of +the south of Europe, forming burrows for itself in the river banks, +and from this habit obtains the name of _Thelphusa fluviatilis_. Few +specimens reach three inches in length, and the colour is no means +inviting, being of a dingy yellow. Yet it appears to have attracted +much attention amongst the ancients: both Aristotle and Hippocrates +knew it well, and there are medals which were struck in very early +periods bearing representations of this Crab on them. There appear +to be some religious associations connected with crustaceans of this +description, as we find the monks of the Greek church taking some pains +to procure them, and then disposing of the dainty without troubling +the cook. In Italy the burrowing Crabs are eaten at Easter, much as we +eat hot-cross-buns on Good Friday. There are other Crabs which form +burrows both in the sands of the sea-shore and the banks and plains of +the interior. One of these is the _Sand Crab_ (_Ocypoda arenaria_) of +naturalists). The wide, open sand stretches of many tropical countries, +abound with these remarkably agile little creatures, who excavate holes +in the sand close to the borders of the tide. These are the lilliputian +pedestrians with whom skylarking midshipmen engage in foot-races along +the strand, and meet ignominious defeat in consequence. As autumn +approaches, their sea-side retreats are quitted, the inland burrows +occupied, and a state of hybernation gone into, until, the winter +having passed away and the spring weather come, _Seaward ho!_ is the +order of the day again. + +The _Gelasimus_ is in many respects similar in its habits to these +fleet-footed gentlemen, but he turns his attention more directly to +sapping and mining operations, carrying on his labours in the most +cunning and artful manner. Nothing annoys him more than to have prying +men or investigating animals, passing their remarks, or taking note +of the mouth of his shaft; so he digs away in his deep level, until +he has accumulated a goodly quantity of sand and earth, when up he +comes stealthily to the opening of his mine, pops out his head, peers +sharply and jealously round, and, if the coast appears clear, round he +flourishes his claw with all the force and precision of an accomplished +round-hand bowler at cricket, and away he casts the proceeds of his +excavations, but at the same time taking care that no two clawfuls go +in the same direction, lest the newly-raised sand should betray the +secret he is so careful to conceal. + +The sands of the reefs and islands of the Eastern seas afford a home +for the King Crab (_Limulus_), who, with his odd-looking, shield-shaped +body, and long blade-like spike or spear, will be familiar to many of +our readers. Some individuals of this species grow to a very large +size, and are sought for by the Malays, both on account of the immense +number of eggs they sometimes contain, and the natural weapon with +which nature has armed them. These lance-shaped spears are often made +use of as points for arrows and other warlike implements, mainly +because the wounds inflicted with them are more painful and dangerous +than those received from instruments of iron or steel. The Malays +are by no means an amiable or forgiving race, and take infinitely +more pains to poison the blade of the “crease” or serpentine-knife +they carry, than to serve a friend or save a life, and we therefore +feel far more respect for the Crab who furnishes the point for the +arrow, than for the man who fires it. Then there is the _Nut Crab_, or +_Calappa_, whose queer little legs are so closely tucked away under his +odd little shell, that rambling “_Jack Tars_” in search of “_Curios_” +not unfrequently gather a few to bring home to their friends, under +the idea that when cut and polished they will serve to form elegant +brooches and splendid shirt-pins, for the gay promenades of Portsmouth +and Plymouth. A dry old salt of a quartermaster, on the Indian station, +chanced one day, when on shore for a cruise, to become possessed of a +goodly number of these _lucky stones_, as he called them, and by way +of securing his treasures placed them in an old silk-handkerchief, and +stowed them away, with a few dollars and sundry cakes of _cavendish_, +in the corner of his chest. It so happened that some piratical +ship-mate, not proof against the allurements of _honey dew_ and silver, +but totally indifferent to natural history, seized his opportunity and +spirited off the tobacco and money, but left the _lucky stones_ behind. +The next day, when our old friend came for his accustomed supply of +the weed, he, to his horror, astonishment, and indignation, found the +supposed pebbles in active motion, performing foot-races over his +best jacket, the handkerchief spread open, and, alas! empty. “Well,” +exclaimed he, “blow me if this ain’t too much of the monkey. Why, look +ye here, messmates; these here blessed stones have come to life, every +man Jack of ’em. _They’ve chawed all my bacca_ and spent every meg of +my money; and now I’ll heave all the beggars to Davey Jones’s locker. +Overboard is where I means to pitch ’em!” and so he did, no doubt +to the intense gratification of the falsely-accused Crabs. Like the +Rocky Mountain ant, in whose hill precious stones are not unfrequently +found,--the codfish acts the part of treasure-seeker among the rocks +and sands of the ocean’s depths,--minute crustaceans of great variety, +are by the shrewd and practical lover of natural history, taken from +the stomachs of the captured fish, and many would have remained all but +unknown to science had it not been that the Crab collecting-habits of +certain large sea-fish, were discovered and promptly taken advantage +of. We strongly advise all those who are fond of collecting either +British or foreign specimens never to miss the opportunity of acquiring +crustaceous wealth held out by the taking of a large deep sea-fish. +Take out his “_treasure-sack_”--the stomach,--wash the contents in +plenty of clean water, carefully examine them, and the trouble will +not be thrown away, or the research made in vain. We have obtained +very large numbers of a very pretty little Crab scarcely as large as +a coffee-bean (_Porcellana longicornis_) in this way. This little +creature is closely allied to _P. platycheles_, found abundantly on the +southern coast of Devon. He delights to dwell like a sort of “_Dirty +Dick_” of crustacean life in a mud hovel of his own scooping, working +his way beneath stones which appear close enough to the bottom to make +a crab-biscuit of him. Catch him, when or how you will, he is always +like an elfish brick-maker, condemned to make bricks without straw, and +debarred the privilege of washing. His jacket and trousers are begrimed +with red dust, and his queer little face peers out at you, like that of +an Indian idol smeared with war-paint. Nature has, however, endowed him +with brush-bearing feet, with which he from time to time dusts his own +suit; but he remains a rather dusty, grimy, little fellow after all, +and we cannot help thinking that the treatment prescribed by Mr. Dick, +for David Copperfield, would greatly benefit his personal appearance. +Nature appears, when modelling the forms of the endless types of +curious crustacean life with which the Southern and Eastern seas +abound, to have given free scope to a love for marvellous quaintness +and oddity of contour. The coasts of Japan furnish us with examples +of Crab life so hideously grotesque, that nothing short of seeing a +veritable specimen would serve to convince any one who had first +seen a sketch of this Japanese notability, that the whole conception +was not the creation of a distempered dream. _Macrocheira-kœmpferi_, +of which two remarkably fine specimens are to be seen in the British +Museum, are just the kind of Crabs a timid young lady, or nervous young +gentleman, would strongly object to meet “_by the sad sea wave_,” +or elsewhere. Their legs are so long, that running away from them +would be utterly useless,--giving them, when standing, the height of +an ordinary camp-stool, whilst the nipper claws appear constructed +precisely on the same principle as are the arms of the magic policeman +of a pantomime, which stretch easily from the level of the street to +the housetop, where that prince of evil-doers, the clown, has vainly +sought sanctuary. Then the coasts of Tasmania and other portions of +Australasia are inhabited by Crabs, who make up in bulk and enormous +power, the little they may fall short of their Japanese cousins in +length of limb. The pincers of some of these are large enough to +embrace the thigh of a man easily, and we apprehend that escape from +that bugbear of apple-stealing rustics, the village man-trap, would be +a matter of perfect simplicity, and a mere practical joke, to getting +out of the grip of one of the gigantic crustaceans of the antipodes. +As some of these are remarkable for their formidable appearance and +colossal power, so are others well worthy of note on account of their +beauty of colour and elegance of conformation. _Neptunus pelagicus_, +a Crab of medium size, is wonderfully handsome, being ornamented with +most strangely arranged spicules, and spotted with purple, shading off +into pink. _Oceanus crucifer_, an inhabitant of the Indian seas, is +perfectly charming in his way; in fact, a sort of “_Dresden beauty_,” +who might be easily mistaken for a specimen of the most exquisite pink +and white china. + +From the Chilian coast we have another Crab, of a totally different +style of beauty, in the person of _Cancer dentatus_, who appears +to have laid the forest under contribution to furnish his unique +wardrobe. A coat of bark, plant-stalk legs, and a very becoming frill, +of autumnal-brown fern-leaves, constitute his _get up_, and it is no +flattery to say that he looks uncommonly well in it. From the Caribbean +sea we get, amongst a whole host of strange productions, that little +gem of a Crab, _Mithraculus coronatus_. He looks as if designed +expressly to be converted into a brooch, his compact little body +resembling the most delicately tinted, blue porcelain, whilst his tiny +claws are more like minute tufts of fur than aught else we can compare +them to. + +_Leucosia urania_ is another strange Chinese Crab, resembling in no +common degree a pebble of polished white agate; whilst a brother, _P. +porcellana_, is found in Australia; and nearer home, we obtain from +the neighbourhood of the Island of Madeira the _Plagusia squamosa_, or +Goat Crab, whose whole shell is rich in ornamentation, and who is by no +means unlike a handsomely chased snuff-box, inlaid with chinaware and +metal. Unlike these bits of ocean bric-a-brac is _Parthenope horrida_, +from the reefs bordering the Isle of France. This unprepossessing +individual the casual observer would declare without hesitation to be +an ungainly, rugged lump of broken white coral rock; and there are +uncomfortable asperities and corners enough to prevent any pedestrian, +however heedless, from stepping on it; and let him just pick one up +to cast at some passing sea-bird, and see how quickly the stone will +resent the liberty, and show how he is to be depended on at a pinch. +Then, to step from the harsh and uncompromising to the grotesque +and elfish, we have but to visit the genial blue waters of the +Mediterranean, where we find about as comical a little Crab as exists +in all “Crabdom,” wide as that ill-defined dominion unquestionably +is. This little gentleman is known as _Dromia lator_, and his habits, +to say the least of them, are as eccentric as his personal appearance +is queer. A hairy, wiry-coated, round-bodied, little crabling is +he, and his delight is to go hunting and foraging about amongst the +coralines, medusæ, and molluscs at the bottom, and because he is a +designing, artful little wolf of a crab, he brings to bear his talent +for stratagem. After searching out a nice, hollow piece of soft and +fine-grained sponge, he works his way under it--roaches up his little +back, until the yielding material opens and again closes round him, +thus forming a snug and well fitting great-coat, which, like charity, +covers a multitude of sins. + +The tricksy sprites of fish and shrimps, as they joyously disport +themselves amongst the branching coral, take little heed of the +familiar ball of sponge, which in some unaccountable manner or another +appears, uninvited, in the very midst of the revels. It is strange, +certainly, that guest after guest should vanish into it, and return +no more; but sponges, you know, are common enough in every grade +of society, and therefore it is that the one in question is little +suspected of having a live adventurer, of the most acquisitive and +_nipsome_ habits, bound up within its folds: but there he is, for all +that, as you would find out to your cost, if you unwittingly enlisted +him for toilet purposes, on the strength of his borrowed uniform. + +As another instance of quaint resemblance to inanimate or stationary +objects, we have _Echinocerus cibarius_, a native of the North-west +Coast of America, where it was discovered during the voyage of Her +Majesty’s ship _Plumper_; and nothing on earth does this rugose +creature so much resemble as a large, uneven, ball of half-baked brick +clay, and his claim to the honour of being a Crab, would be laughed to +scorn by those who from bashfulness had never shaken hands with him. +Australia, that land of oddities, contributes to our store a perfect +little sea vagabond, in the person of _Pilumnus nespertilis_, who is +without any exception the very dirtiest and most disreputable-looking +little scamp in all king Neptune’s dominions. Cut a frayed-out corner, +from a chimney-sweep’s soot-bag, and you have his exact resemblance. +Yet who shall say that _P. nespertilis_ is not a gentleman, in spite of +his unpromising and unfashionable raiment! + +Australia is a land of contradictions, as we all know. Even +_explorers’_ names serve but to mislead and confound the uninitiated. +We have “Cape pigeons,” which are no more pigeons than wild geese or +storks: “Cape salmon,” which own to no bonds of relationship with the +family of _Salmonidæ_. + +The “robins” of the United States of America bear no resemblance to +those of England, and enjoy none of the love, protection, and numerous +privileges universally accorded to their more fortunate namesakes +on this side of the Atlantic. Again, we say advisedly, let no man +heedlessly try the strength of his teeth on an “Indian wood-apple,” +simply because it is called “an apple.” He had far better make an +attempt on an iron cannon-shot of Woolwich pattern at once, than try +his powers of mastication on one of these forest fruits. The cherry of +Australia, too, has a disagreeable and exasperating habit of growing +with its stone outside, and of being highly unpalatable into the +bargain; whilst the “pear” of that favoured land would, if duly fitted +by a clever cabinet-maker, and properly polished, make an excellent +and highly ornamental knob for a street door. A cabbage-tree is by +no means bad as a producer of material for the manufacture of hats, +and the green tops are occasionally boiled by settlers of vegetarian +inclinings; but any one sanguine enough to seek cabbages amongst the +cabbage-palms might reasonably be looked for, with bridle on arm, and +basket in hand, carefully prospecting the pastures for a “mare’s nest,” +with a view to the leading home of the colts and the basketing of such +eggs as might remain unhatched. Depend, therefore, that our begrimed +little acquaintance is not exactly as stupid as he looks, and that his +dirty, hempen jacket, is given him for some wise purpose. Nothing is +created in vain; and Columbus, with all his talent and power as a sea +commander, gladly availed himself of the services of one of the most +tiny Crabs (_Planes minutus_), who, floating by the good ship, in his +tangled bed of _Sargossa_ or gulf-weed, was hauled on board by the +bronzed and storm-tossed mariners, by whom he was at once introduced +to the chief, the man of demonstration, who crushed in the egg’s end to +make it stand upright. “A crab!” said he; “a good and fair harbinger of +land, which, with God’s help, we shall soon discover.” And so they did, +for the Crab’s tale came true, and the West India Islands were almost +immediately fallen in with, and duly investigated. + +_P. minutus_ is a roving sailor by nature, and is carried on his long +sea-voyages by the masses of weed ever carried onward by the warm and +genial gulf-stream, and there is little doubt that members of the +family to which he belongs, now naturalized on our own coasts, first +travelled hither amongst the meshes of their ocean raft, which knew no +return. Such specimens as have been procured on the coasts of England, +are not as large or brilliant in their colour, as those captured in +more genial climes. + +The Floating Crabs, as met with in true gulf streams, are extremely +pretty little creatures, measuring about eight-tenths of an inch in +length. They are clouded and shaded with rich warm brown, yellow, +and buff, and well deserve the consideration of the lover of natural +history. + +The almost innumerable channels stretching between the coral reefs, +lagunes, and palm-clad islands of the Southern Seas are inhabited +by legions of Crabs of next to endless species and varieties. Many +of these feed luxuriously on the vast numbers of “Trepang,” or sea +slug (_Holotharia edulis_) found in these latitudes. The human crab +industriously seeks his share of this half-grub, half-slug, delicacy, +and some account of its nature and mode of preparation may not prove +unacceptable to the reader. The _Bêche-de-mer_, as this uninviting +looking creature is called by the traders who deal in it, is in +immense request in nearly every market in the Chinese empire, as a +stock ingredient to be used in the preparation of the rich, glutinous +soups and stews, in which the Celestials so much delight. They are +also extensively used to mix with little squares of salt pork, sharks’ +fins, and pickled bamboo shoots; when thus combined, served up as a +stew, and accompanied by diminutive cups of hot “sam shoo,” or rice +spirit, John Chinaman, when fortunate enough to get it, yields himself +to gastronomic enjoyment, and cares not to call the most important +mandarin in the empire, his uncle. As there are brands of high repute +amongst wine producers, so are there _high_ and _low_ class _slugs_ in +the sea’s great larder, and there are six kinds well known in the trade. + +The best are those procured by divers, who prosecute their labours +amongst the deep recesses between the reefs, where the water is +always of considerable depth. The next quality is taken by nocturnal +hunting-parties, who sally forth, torch in hand, and thread the +intricate mazes amongst the coral ponds and lagunes, making night +hideous by their fiendish shouts, and wild, weird proceedings. The +bright moon-light nights so enjoyable within the tropics, are also +taken advantage of, for slug-catching purposes, when great quantities +of average worth are not unfrequently procured. The inferior sorts +are usually gathered by the idlers and children of the islands, who +wander about in the rock pools left by the receding tide, and pick up +all they can there discover. The trader obtains the various kinds and +qualities from the slug-hunters, and at once proceeds to select them +according to their market value. Benches are erected, on which they are +first cut open with sharp knives, cleansed, and placed without water in +very large cauldrons to cook. The juices thrown out by the Trepang are +sufficient to prepare him in, and prevent his becoming too dry in the +kettle stage of the operation. + +From the boiling department they are removed to large wooden sheds, +erected for drying them in. Here they are arranged on shelves placed +one over the other, where they are constantly turned and most +carefully attended to; huge wood fires being kept burning to expedite +the process, as it is essential that the slugs should be completely +freed from even the slightest suspicion of moisture before they are +packed for deposit on board ship. Comparatively few persons have +any idea of the immense commercial importance to be attached to this +branch of industry; but some rough notion of the enormous number of +these questionable-looking dainties annually collected by the Trepang +catchers may be formed, when we state, that a single trader from +America obtained, during a bartering expedition amongst the Fejee group +of islands, in return for the issue of miscellaneous articles and +objects of trade, representing no very great value, 25,000 dollars’ +worth of Trepang in seven months. And in order to still further +show that even this repulsive and insignificant-looking sea-worm +is worthy of the consideration of the “grave and staid merchant,” +we give the financial return made on one voyage prosecuted for its +obtainment:--Peculs[3] of slugs obtained, 1,200; cost of goods and +outfit, 3,500 dollars; money return on sales effected, 27,000 dollars. +The value of the prepared slugs in the markets of the East may be +said to range between ten and sixty dollars per pecul, according to +condition, demand, and quality. Advantages even greater than the +direct acquisition of money have resulted from this peculiar trade. +Discoveries have been made of islands, unknown until the adventurous +traders landed on them; and commercial pursuits have been successfully +prosecuted with tribes who, in all probability, would have remained +hostile to Europeans for ages to come, had not that humble missionary, +the sea-slug, opened up the road to friendship, well-reposed trust, and +business relationship. + +[3] A _Pecul_ weighs 133⅓ lbs., and is a weight common throughout the +Southern and Eastern seas. + + + + +SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. + + +Like our friends the crabs, these are of many species, and inhabit +every sea from pole to pole. Our own coast line is pretty generally +occupied by them, and very few places of seaside resort fail in +affording sport to the Shrimp or Prawn catcher. An error, into which +many persons fall, is the confounding of Shrimps and Prawns with +each other, although the differences between their general form and +appearance are sufficiently marked to strike the most casual observer. +The true Shrimp of our waters is the mottled spotted-brown kind, the +so-called Sand Shrimp (_Crangon vulgaris_) the subject of the annexed +cut. Besides the difference in colour and the hooked form of the +fore-feet, the tremendously formidable-looking weapon with which the +head of the Prawn is provided, and from which the Pacific Islanders +appear to have borrowed the design for their shark-tooth swords, is +absent in _C. vulgaris_. Its favourite haunts are the wide, open sand +flats and the mouths of tidal rivers. The name “sand raiser,” often +applied to it by fishermen, is by no means inappropriate, and arises +from the curious habit it has of suddenly raising a perfect cloud of +fine sand, round itself--firing, so to speak, “a broadside for the sake +of the smoke,” and literally throwing dust in the eyes of his enemies. + +[Illustration] + +This designing little Genius, after raising his own sand storm, +adroitly scoops for himself a tiny trench in the soft material on which +he rests, and then remaining perfectly still, allows the falling grains +to cover him snugly in, like a sheep in a snow-drift. Great numbers of +Shrimps of this kind, as well as small flat fish, and an endless number +of odd waifs and strays, can be taken with the dredge--a contrivance +shown in the following cut. The framework is of iron, the two straight +bars or bridle rods are made so as to play freely round the end bars +of the frame, as at _a_, whilst a sort of hinge joint admits of their +moving up or down, thus insuring close contact between the lower edge +of the frame and the bottom, as it is dragged along by a rope, either +lowered from a boat or attached to a horse. The extreme end, or purse +of the net, is made to untie like the mouth of a bag as at B, which +greatly facilitates the removal of its contents when overhauling is +needed. The two rings, C C, serve to attach the drag rope to. + +[Illustration] + +An apparatus constructed much on the same general principles, and known +as the _keer drag_, is also in much use. A beam of wood and a set of +“_yoke lines_” serve to keep the body of the net distended, and the +purse is secured with a few turns of twine. The dredge we have figured +and described may have a much shorter _bag_ of very strong network +attached to it, if the nature of the ground dredged over, and the kind +of productions sought, should render it necessary. The net we have +represented is mainly intended for the taking of small crustaceans, +and such other odds and ends of animal and vegetable life, as may be +found on smooth ground and the open sand flats. There are a number of +patterns for dredges, more or less complicated, to be obtained from +their respective inventors. The reader may perchance wish to design +one for himself. Let him, however, bear in mind that simplicity of +construction, and thoroughly good iron, are two important elements of +successful manufacture, durability, and general usefulness. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +The seaside visitor not possessed of one of these contrivances will +find such a net as that figured in the above cut extremely useful and +amusing. It can be made at a very trifling cost, and is easily repaired +when broken. In using it the Shrimp fisherman wades steadily onward, +and pushes his net steadily before him until it is supposed that the +contents are sufficiently abundant, when they are taken out and fresh +research commenced. The rugged rock-strewn shores of many parts of the +coast of England, Ireland, and the Channel Islands, require fishing in +an entirely different manner, both by pole and hoop-nets. The pole-net +as shown in the following cut, is a most efficient instrument for the +capture of the different kinds of Prawns and other small crustaceans +found in the rock-pools, bays, and inlets of the coast line. The frame +supporting the bag of the net should be of sound tough iron, and of +flat form, but slightly turned up at the point, as at A. A slight +groove, like the fullering of a horse-shoe, must extend entirely round +both the under and upper surfaces, in order to form a secure rest +for a stout piece of copper bell-wire, with which the bag of the net +is secured to the frame. Small holes are now to be drilled at short +intervals all round the frame in the bottom of the groove, so that +the wire may be passed up and down through them, and so fasten on +the net, the bottom of which must be so fashioned and constricted in +making, as to terminate in the purse B. The pole C is best made of +well-seasoned ash, and should be at least twelve feet long, and bent as +at D. This is easily done by heat, as ox-bows and many other objects +are formed. When Shrimping with the pole-net, it is a good plan to +carry a rough, fork-ended wand, with which to probe crevices between +rocks, too small or narrow to admit the net. The largest Prawns often +take advantage of such retreats, and dart into them on the least alarm. +It is well before wading into a promising-looking pool, to cast a +sharp, scrutinising glance into it, when the Prawns will frequently be +seen, out of their haunts, sailing about amongst the weeds and ledges +with extraordinary grace and elegance of movement, their long feelers +and hair-like antennæ spreading out and waving in ceaseless play. By +introducing the net cautiously, a number of these gadabouts may be +taken before sufficient disturbance is caused to send them off to their +lurking-places, to which, when really alarmed, they shoot with the +speed of an arrow. The fugitives generally seek a place of concealment +as near the surface as possible, and it is well, therefore, to seek +high up for them. As a dress for shrimping we strongly recommend a wool +shirt, tweed jacket and trousers, wide, felt hat, woollen socks, and +a pair of easy shoes in which there are plenty of holes for the water +to run out through. A good number of narrow-headed, steel nails should +be driven into both soles and heels, in order to prevent slipping on +the sloping rock-faces, which, when coated with weeds, are far more +difficult to maintain a footing on than ice. Never take a watch, keys, +or a pocket-knife of any value with you when you go to shrimp, or they +will be rusted to a certainty; but a common knife, and a good store of +twine for repairs are essentials. Bags and over-handled baskets are +both very inconvenient receptacles for such Prawns or Shrimps as you +may be fortunate enough to catch--the bags getting wet and hanging +about you in an uncomfortable and chilling manner, whilst the baskets +appear to take a malignant pleasure in upsetting themselves in some +uncomfortable manner, whenever they are left to themselves, even for +a few minutes. Nothing is equal to the ordinary creel carried by the +river fisherman. A broad piece of woollen web, such as race-horses’ +circingales are made of, forms an excellent shoulder-strap, and is far +better for the purpose than leather. + +[Illustration] + +As in crab-catching, advantage should be taken of very low tides, and +a very sharp look-out kept for Prawns when the young flood begins +to make its approach, as all ocean life is then in full activity. +The _Hoop net_ before referred to, and represented in the annexed +illustration, is used in a very different manner from that just +described. Instead of being worked by hand, it is first baited with +offal and then deposited in the bottom of such pools as are likely to +contain Prawns. A considerable number of these nets are often taken out +for use by one fisherman, who uses a long, fork-ended, pole, for laying +down and taking them up; the cork bung, or float, which indicates +their whereabouts, serving as a sort of button for the fork of the +pole to lift them by, as at A. The hoop and net are kept in a proper +position by being suspended like a scale pan by three or more cords. +Iron or wood may be used for making the hoops, and a stone placed +amongst the bait keeps the net steadily at the bottom. Nets of this +kind are, in certain localities, used from boats. Shrimp-fisheries of +great commercial importance exist in many localities for the supply +of the London and other great markets, and it is only necessary to +reflect for an instant on the enormous quantities of these crustaceans +eaten every day in the almost endless tea-gardens, supper-rooms, and +places of public resort in and about London alone, to be convinced +that the consumption of shrimps is truly enormous. Billingsgate teems +with them. Sieves worked by nimble hands separate the large from the +small, and draw the “_ad valorem_” distinction between _St. James_ +and _St. Giles_. Those coral-like aristocrats, the true Prawns of the +family (_Palæmon serratus_), are not subjected to the ignoble standard +of measurement, but are counted carefully and grudgingly out, like a +king’s ransom, and estimated by the dozen. Yet it not unfrequently +happens that _P. serratus_ in his infancy and youth, so far associates +himself with plebeian company as to be boiled in the same pot with +his less distinguished associates. (Here we might moralize, but space +forbids.) Mixed with a heterogeneous crew of captured crustaceans of +many grades, and the water torture gone through, P. S., like many +other young gentlemen wearing jackets of a different colour, loses all +individuality, and is ignominiously classed among “_cup shrimps_,” +measured out in a vulgar tin half-pint, vended by a costermonger and +eaten by a sweep. The countless thousands thus disposed of are not +taken with the appliances which a pleasure-seeker or amateur would +make use of, but are caught by regular network engines fitted out +for the purpose, and worked from boats; and if a stray salmon or two +will blunder stupidly into the meshes, _to the extreme annoyance +of the owners_, what can H.M.’s Fishery Commissioners do, but pity +their wayward flock for straying into the toils of the shrimp-wolf, +and coming to an untimely end in consequence? It should be borne in +mind that live shrimps are excellent baits for a number of sea and +river fish. The perch, although usually classed among fresh-water +fish, delights in a “sniff of the briney.” Brackish water he glories, +revels, and thrives in; show him a nice fresh shrimp, and see how soon +he becomes your humble servant. Grey mullet, too, have a weakness for +shrimp enticements, and we know of no more deadly bait for the lordly +salmon, than a freshly-caught Prawn. If any proof of its excellence +for this purpose is needed, we have only to advise the sceptic to try +it, by trolling as with a minnow. The principal food of _Salmo salar_ +and some other migratory members of the family _salmonidæ_, when on +their long sea voyages, mainly consists of crustacea, and the countless +myriads of opossum shrimps (_Mysis vulgaris_) peopling the Northern +and Arctic seas, serve to furnish food for the vast shoals of these +fish, during their annual visits and migrations to salt water. “The +Whalebone,” “Right,” or Greenland Whale, would soon become as extinct +as the mastadon, if any shrimp-disease should, in an untimely manner, +carry off the lively little opossum. Away among the ice-fields of the +far north, where the drifting floes and crashing bergs drift onward +before the gale, and where, as winter sets in, the polar bears and +Arctic foxes, feel hard times, and are at a loss for a dinner, our huge +leviathan acquaintance, the whale, holds high festival; merely opening +his cavernous mouth wide enough for a deluge of water to rush in, and +then by a sudden effort, sending it out again, through the numerous +strainers and fringes, with which nature has gifted him. + + “The sounds and seas, each creek and bay, + With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals + Of fish that with their fins and shining scales + Glide under the green wave, in sculls that oft + Bank the mid-sea: part single or with mate + Graze, the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves + Of coral stray; or sporting with quick glance, + Show to the sun their waved coats dropped with gold + Or, in their pearly shells at ease, attend + Moist nutriment; or under rocks their food + In jointed armour watch; on smooth the seal + And bended dolphins play: part huge of bulk, + Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait. + Tempest the ocean: there leviathan, + Hugest of living creatures, on the deep, + Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims, + And seems a moving land; and at his gills + Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out a sea.” + + MILTON. + +The water passes freely through, but the poor little opossums, by +the peck, are left behind, to help in building up the material by +the aid of which the goddess of fashion contrives to maintain such +an exceedingly good figure. But if the whale devours his legions of +opossums, he has not, big as he is, matters all his own way. There is +a little crustacean (_Cyamus ceti_) so much attached to him, that like +the old man of the sea, who, when once established on Sinbad’s back +could not by ordinary means be induced to come off again, appears quite +content with matters as they are, and nibbles away at the skin of his +gigantic steed, just as his appetite may require. Thus enjoying all the +advantages of noble company, free travelling, and a permanent residence +on his own dining-table. + +Unlike the ordinary shrimps who carry their eggs about with them but +for a time, the opossums carry theirs until the young are sufficiently +developed to shift for themselves, when a peculiar valve-like, +trap-door arrangement is caused to open, and the young shrimp fry, +start in the world of waters, and seek for themselves their own +maintenance. Arctic voyagers who are conversant with the habits +of shrimps, and who have a knowledge of the peculiarities of _M. +vulgaris_, do not heedlessly trust their salt junk over the side to +soak, fearing lest their experiences might be like those of the Norse +skipper, who, in a spirit of maritime recklessness, lowered the dinner +of his ship’s company to the ocean’s depths, and hauled up, much to his +consternation and disgust, a well-nibbled string instead. The opossums +and their relations had eaten the rest. + +The Indian and Chinese seas yield an endless variety of both the shrimp +and prawn families, the latter of a size far beyond anything we see +in our more frigid waters (_Palæmon carcinus_), common to the Indian +Ocean and some of the great rivers flowing into it, not unfrequently +reaching a foot in length. Those usually sold in the Indian markets +are not as large as these, but are still of sufficient size to render +them highly attractive; and those who, like us, have eaten prawns in +the East, prepared by those who know the secrets of the art, will bear +away the remembrance of their flavour as an agreeable souvenir. That +is, if the said prawns happen to be free from the curious, and little +understood fish poison, with which the denizens of Tropic seas are too +often encumbered. In favoured England, no such drawback to the full +enjoyment of your prawn-feast need exist; the common difficulty being +the obtainment of a sufficient quantity to enjoy. + +[Illustration] + +Many of the rivers emptying themselves into the Carribean Sea, +after flowing through Florida, contain at their mouths, within the +influence of the salt water, Prawns of very large size. These have +been improperly called “_The crawfish of America_,” but they are true +members of the Prawn family (_Palæmon setiferus_); many of these +measure between seven and eight inches in length, and like their +relatives in other seas, are by no means bad to eat. Many of our +readers will no doubt have observed, when engaged in the pleasant +operation of shelling their bright scarlet Prawns, before eating +them, that on the carapace of one here and there, exists an oval, +bladder-like projection, as though some smooth, transparent, univalve +shell, had there closely attached itself. This contains a parasite +crustacean. On raising the horny cap, beneath which it shelters, the +intruder may be discovered keeping fast hold of the branchiæ, or gills +of the prawn, who appears to suffer no inconvenience, or injury, +from the presence of his companion. This curious little creature is +the _Bopyrus crangorum_ of naturalists; the foregoing illustration +represents the common Prawn (_P. serratus_), with the parasite attached +to it. The shrimp form is not exclusively confined to the sea and +tidal rivers. Fresh water lakes, ponds, and streams in many parts of +the world have their shrimp tenants of one kind or another, many of +them highly noteworthy for the beauty of their organization. The fairy +shrimp (_Chirocephalus diaphanus_) is a well-marked example. This +elegant little creature is occasionally met with in the fresh water +ponds and pools of this country, and can at times be obtained in the +neighbourhood of London. Its first appearance strikes the examiner as +being most remarkable. The ordinary position assumed by most aquatic +creatures, is not to his taste or fancy, so he swims on his back, +rising to the surface or sinking away into deep water, just as his +will may direct, and gliding here and there, like some tiny elfin boat +endowed with vitality. Its colours are most charming and exquisite, +clear and transparent, of a delicate sea-green hue; it floats like a +shadow through the water, whilst its host of fringed feet, wave and +undulate like growing corn, as they send the passing current through +them, and by their ciliary movement, glean the particles of nutritive +matter floating by. Its long, bright, red horns and tail serve as +a foil to set off the other beauties which nature has so lavishly +bestowed. The fairy shrimp rarely exceeds an inch in length, and when +placed in a vase of clear water forms a most pleasing object for +contemplation. + +In the pools and ditches of our lanes and fields, we find another +curious little crustacean creature, _Apus productus_, who differs +entirely from that already described, in almost every habit but that +of swimming on his back. In some localities the stagnant waters +swarm with countless myriads of these odd little animals, who have +the uncomfortable habit of burying their heads and bodies in the +sand or mud, and leaving their ridiculous little tails waving about +in the water, like the pendants of sunken wrecks. _A. productus_ +appears to enter on the responsibilities of life under more than +ordinarily disadvantageous circumstances, being born with only one +eye, half a shell-jacket, and, hardest of all, without a tail. All +these deficiencies, however, are made up in time, and _A. productus_ +flourishes. He is extremely fond of tadpoles, and in the season usually +obtains a fair share of his favourite provender. The spawn of both +frogs and toads he has a weakness for; but Nemesis, in the form of a +water-wagtail, is rarely far off; and as he trots daintily along with +his delicate claws in the water and his tail in ceaseless movement, +depend on it that the beak is not idle, and that the family of _A. P._ +is paying the penalty by wholesale. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE COMMON ENGLISH LOBSTER, + +(_Homarus vulgaris_) + + +[Illustration] + +As seen on the marble slab of the fishmonger, is very unlike his +relatives beneath the waves. The curled up form in which he is seen +when so exposed is not that usually assumed in its own element, unless +in the act of exerting its immense powers of retrograde motion. +These are so great that one sudden downward sweep of its curiously +constructed, oar-like tail, is sufficient to send it like an arrow, +three or four-and-twenty feet, with the most extraordinary precision, +thereby enabling our friend to retreat with the greatest rapidity into +nooks, corners, and crevices among the rocks, where pursuit would be +hopeless. His eyes being arranged on foot stalks, or stems, are free +from the inconvenient trammels of sockets, and possess a radius of +vision commanding both front and rear, and from their compound form +(being made up of a number of square lenses) are extremely penetrating +and powerful. The slightest shadow passing over the pool in which the +lobster may chance to be crawling or swimming, will frequently cause +one of these sudden backward shoots to be made, and _H. vulgaris_ +vanishes into some cleft or cavity with a rapidity of motion which no +harlequin could ever, even in his wildest dreams, hope to achieve. Down +among the deep channels, between the crags at the sea’s bottom, alarms, +except from the sea robbers themselves, are not to be dreaded. Here +the lobsters are at home, and in such spots the wicker-trap, before +described and figured, or the trunk-net represented in the above cut, +may be laid down for them. Nets of this kind are in general use. They +are made by fastening a number of stout, wooden hoops to longitudinal +bars, and covering them with network. Their internal construction is +much like that of the crab-pot, only there are two entrances instead +of one, and twine is used in lieu of willows or twigs to prevent the +prisoners from escaping. Heavy stones are attached to them as sinkers. +Fish offal is used as bait, and corks at the end of lines serve to +point out their position and haul them up by. Lobsters are prolific +creatures, and it is well that they are so, considering the enormous +quantities consumed every day in England alone. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +It has been computed that each fully-matured female will produce from +18,000 to 20,000 eggs, and there is little doubt but that with proper +management and the expenditure of a very small capital, artificial +fecundation of the ova of crustaceans might be most successfully and +profitably conducted in this country. Much attention has of late been +paid to this subject in France, and many most interesting experiments +in connexion with it have been tried. The annexed cut represents a set +of chambers, or troughs, which were erected in the _College de France_, +Paris, for the hatching of the eggs of the various crustacea. 1 is the +reservoir in which the water is placed; this runs through the tap, +2, into a series of glass troughs in which gravel has been placed; +3, 3, 3, through which it flows and then discharges itself into the +main receiver, 4. This apparatus, although very neat and ornamental, +is far more costly than there is any need for. Such a contrivance as +that represented in the above illustration can be readily put up for a +few shillings, and will be found to answer every practical requirement +as perfectly as the more costly arrangement, A, is a common tub in +which a wooden tap is fixed; B, is a series of shallow earthenware +dishes, or pans with lips, such as are sold at almost all earthenware +shops for domestic use. The stands may be made from a few boards and +fir poles nailed together; very little ingenuity is needed to enable +any cottager to hatch out his own young crustaceans from the egg. The +common river cray-fish has been extensively propagated artificially, +and there appears no limit to the extent to which fish-hatching in +all its branches may be carried by the industrious. There appears, +comparatively, little trouble in the early stages of the process--the +eggs of the female being placed on gravel at the bottom of the pans. +The seed of the male fish is then laid on it, and, in due time, +favoured by gentle streams of sea-water constantly flowing, the young +crustaceans come forth. In rearing them it must be borne in mind that +as their food, when in a state of nature, mainly consists of marine +worms, fish spawn, and the lesser crustacea, food of a suitable +character must be provided until the young nurselings are old enough +to turn out in the sea pools to shift for themselves. Our space will +not admit of our dealing at any length with this subject, and the few +hints we have given are mainly intended to show that important results +in this branch of national wealth may be arrived at by the use of very +simple means and appliances. The number of Lobsters brought every +season to Billingsgate Market will serve to give some idea of the +importance of Lobster-fishing, and the sums of money which must change +hands in connexion with it. Calculations show that from the coasts of +England, Ireland, Scotland, and the Channel Islands, 150,000 Lobsters +per season reach Billingsgate Market, exclusive of the supply of Norway +Lobsters (_Nephrops norvegicus_), as represented in the accompanying +illustration. These are even more abundantly supplied, and over 600,000 +per season are imported. It not unfrequently happens that one day’s +supply for that great emporium of sea dainties reaches as high as +25,000; and here at early morning, long before mighty London is fairly +up for the day, a scene of bustle and activity may be witnessed which +well repays the early riser-- + + “Double-double, toil and trouble, + Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” + +Steam in clouds floats above the vast loads of newly-boiled crustaceans +and molluscs; carts of every size and pattern block the way, from +the castellated conveyances of Messrs. Chaplin and Horne, to the +humble donkey shallow: ice, in saw-dusty bales, is jostled against +orange-boxes; figs and codfish greet each other like old friends, +whilst West India pineapples, haddocks, oysters, and Spanish chestnuts +appear determined to make a day of it and go off together. + +[Illustration] + +The popularity of the Lobster extends far beyond the limits of our +island, and he travels about to all parts of the known world, like +an imprisoned spirit soldered up in an air-tight box. It has been +said that during the Indian war a box of regimental stores belonging +to our forces fell into the hands of the enemy, who thinking that a +great capture of some kind of deadly and destructive ammunition had +been made, rammed the painted tin cases, with goodly charges of powder +behind them, into their immense guns, laid them steadily on the devoted +British troops, and then with a flash and a thundering roar, preserved +lobster, from Fortnum and Mason’s, was scattered far and wide over the +battlefield. Fishermen declare that thunder or the reports of artillery +causes the lobsters in the store boxes or wells, in which they are +brought alive to market, to suddenly cast off their large claws, just +as the crabs do in their battles with each other; a smart blow will +cause a lobster to throw off a damaged claw, and thus stop bleeding in +the manner before described. + +The regular Lobster season may be said approximately to last from +the month of March to August. About the middle or latter end of the +last-mentioned month the shifting of shells takes place, and the fish +is unfit for human food; but, like silkworms after a change of skin, +they commence feeding in the most voracious manner directly the new +garment is durable enough to admit of their taking their walks abroad, +and their temporary seclusion and compulsory abstinence is amply made +up for by a course of heavy feeding. The lost plumpness and condition +soon return, and the winter season furnishes Lobsters equal in goodness +and flavour to any caught “in _high lobster time_.” It has been +remarked by many experienced shell-fish dealers that the Lobster is +exceedingly local in its habits, and there are some who profess to be +able to recognise the natives of particular localities by their general +appearance and the colour of their shells. Unlike some crustaceans who +are coldly indifferent to the welfare of their offspring, the mamma +Lobster keeps her little brood about her until the youthful lobsterkins +are big enough to start in life for themselves. + +The coasts of British North America, as well as many portions of the +sea board of the United States, abound in mail-clad inhabitants of +many kinds. In some localities great amusement is at times afforded +by their capture--a sort of _pic-nic_ or _lobster frolic_ being +organised. A boat with plenty of eatables, drinkables, and a capacious +cooking pot are provided, and long poles with their ends split (much +as the extremities of clothes-pins are fashioned) prepared. On the +boat or skiff being propelled slowly through the shallow water, a +sharp look-out is kept on the regions below, and on the Lobster +being discovered, the split end of the pole is lowered quietly, and +with the greatest caution, until just over the unsuspecting victim’s +back, when by a sudden downward thrust, the forceps like instrument +securely nips him, and he is brought to the surface in spite of his +claws and the pinches he inflicts on the tough, unyielding wood. Some +overhanging rock, or pleasant nook on the shore, is usually selected +as a place in which to dine and cook the proceeds of the Lobster hunt. +The driftwood and such dry sticks and shrubs as the neighbourhood will +afford, are used as fuel to boil the pot, and the revels proceed right +joyously. The bays, shallows, and mouths of rivers on the coast of +Prince Edward’s Island, abound in a species of sea-weed, known amongst +the inhabitants as “_eel grass_;” on this vast numbers of Lobsters +feed as in a rich sea garden. To these favoured hunting-grounds the +Lobster-catchers betake themselves, and by wading little more than +half-leg deep gather as many as they require. A bushel basket has been +filled in this way in less than an hour. + +Like the branching growths of sub-marine life which form the connecting +link between the vegetable and animal kingdoms, we find crustaceans, +dwelling, so to speak, on the border lands of other races, and +linking the shrimp, crab, and lobster families together; partaking of +the nature of each, but being identical with neither: such are the +so-called _squat lobsters_ or _Galathea_. Three well-marked kinds are +to be met with more or less abundantly; these are the _Olive squats_ +(_G. squamifera_), the _scarlet squat_ (_G. nexa_), and the _painted +squat_ (_G. strigosa_); all these are of comparatively small size, the +largest or painted description rarely exceeding three and a half inches +in length. The singular alertness of all the race renders capture +somewhat difficult. Like the lobsters they possess extraordinary powers +of vision and retrograde movement. The horns are extremely long, and so +sensitive that the slightest touch seems to reveal at once the nature +of an approaching object, and enables the alarmed squat to seek a safe +sanctuary between the rock clefts, from which, he is by no means easy +to withdraw. + +[Illustration] + +The spined lobster (_Palinurus vulgaris_), _crawfish_, _cray_, or +_crowder_, will from its thorn-coated shell, long horns, powerful +nippers, and generally formidable appearance, be familiar to most +of our readers. Like most other crustaceans the Cray delights in a +home among rugged sunken rocks, and is taken in the traps laid down +for ordinary lobsters and crabs. It not unfrequently happens whilst +line-fishing over sunken reefs, or on rocky ground, that, on a bite +being felt and the line drawn in, a steady drag is felt as though a +cuttlefish had grasped the bait; on looking down into sea beneath +the boat, in all probability the Cray will be seen in all his spined +armament, coming on at the end of the line like a sea porcupine with +horns. Some care will be needed to coax him deftly onward until the +net is well under, or your line and Cray are likely to part company. +These thorn-clad heroes, “in their spiked armour like Egyptian _porke +pigs_,” are not held in as high esteem for the table as their more +smoothly-plated relations--their flesh being of harder texture and of +a sweet flavour is objected to by professed lobster-eaters; still, to +our taste, a well-conditioned “_porke pig_,” the shape of a Crayfish, +is by no means to be despised. Some portions of the Pacific Ocean, +and the warm seas of the East, contain them in vast numbers. Many +spots on the coast of South America, and the bays and inlets of the +island of Juan Fernandez, literally swarm with them; and it is to be +questioned whether Robinson Crusoe, or Man Friday either, would have +ever consented to leave that fertile and picturesque locality if they +had entertained the least idea that it was surrounded by countless +thousands of Crays in a perfect fever of anxiety as to whose good +fortune it would be to get boiled first. + +Some idea may be formed of the abundance of animated creatures of +this and other kinds to be taken in these seas, by the following +account of the fishing to be obtained in them, given by the Hon. F. +Walpole:--“The fishing afforded the best return for labour, and a boat +might be filled in four hours with hook and line only. Fish swarmed +of every size and colour, and seemingly of every variety of appetite, +for they took any bait. The bottom was literally lined with Crawfish +of a large size; some must have weighed five pounds at least. There +needed no hook--a piece of anything let down on a string to the bottom +was enough; they saw it, grasped it, and kept their hold till you had +seized them by their long feelers and borne them into the boat, where +they crawled about and extended their feelers as if in search of more +bait. The Conger eels, which were almost as numerous as the Crawfish, +were great enemies to us, for they took up time in the catching, +and their execution, which followed immediately, was a work of some +skill--Gordian knots, twists, and all manner of wriggles being used +to evade the knife raised to slay them, and frequently their powerful +teeth enabled them to bite through the wire and escape with hook, bait, +and line. Catching Crawfish was one of the favourite amusements of +the seamen. One man held a pole, on which was fastened a bait thrown +into the water near the beach; one or two others stood ready, and when +the Crawfish, allured by the bait, had approached within attainable +distance, those dogs of war pounced upon him, and he was high and dry +upon the beach before he had even meditated a retreat. The boat-keepers +in the boats alongside used to let down pieces of net spread on the +hoops of a cask, with pieces of bait inside them. In a few minutes +these were hauled up, and one of our simple friends appeared seated, +greatly enjoying the travelling. Sometimes two or three came up +struggling for standing room. But enough of Crawfish, I will only add +that we thoroughly enjoyed both the catching and the eating. We had +crawfish for breakfast, crawfish for dinner, crawfish for supper, and +crawfish for any incidental meal we could cram in between. The last I +saw of my friends was with their long feelers wreathing about, as they +were borne about Valparaiso as presents on our return.” + +We learn from the old authors that Apicius, after profoundly studying +the culinary art at Minturnus, in Campania, where he feasted right +royally on Crawfish, in order, it is said, to strengthen and improve +the appetite--at length feeling that change of scene and provender +were needed, and opportunely hearing that Craws of marvellous size +and surpassing excellence were captured on the coast of Africa, the +sage knew no rest until he had obtained a ship and had set sail for +that favoured land. The voyage proved prosperous, and, as might be +reasonably anticipated, as the shore was neared a sea-earned appetite +of more than ordinary intensity set in, and the philosopher’s first +thoughts rested on the delicious crustaceans he had journeyed so far to +enjoy. The dusky fishers, roused into bustle and activity by the august +arrival, soon brought the spoils of their crawfish hunt, rejoicing no +doubt at their quick success; but the Craws were found, like most other +things when made the subject of long anticipation, by no means equal +to the exaggerated standard, and were contemptuously sent with their +owners to the right-about, orders being given that larger specimens +might be immediately brought. On being informed that to do so would +be impossible, Apicius at once expressed his supreme contempt for +Africa, Crawfish, and all else, ordered his pilot to attend, and gave +directions for instant departure for Italy. + +Pliny speaks of Crawfish of such huge dimensions, “_four cubits long_,” +that we are almost led to believe they must have been the creation of a +wild, distempered dream rather than substantial realities. + +The tables of ancient Rome were often garnished with dishes of Crawfish +served with asparagus; and it is our decided opinion that many worse +things are daily partaken of by the gourmands of this enlightened age, +notwithstanding the much-vaunted march of improvement in cookery. + +The coral reefs fringing the island of Mauritius afford shelter +to members of the family of _Palinurus_, which in both size and +splendour of colouring far excel those taken in our seas. Some we had +an opportunity of examining when freshly caught, by the fishermen of +that fertile isle, looked so much like works of art that we could +almost fancy Pallisey, that king of potters, must have returned to +life, and that these were some of his choicest productions. Some +were of delicate sea-green banded with white and ultra-marine blue, +alternately. Others were striped with pale yellow, black, and green, +whilst all were so highly glazed, and carried such a brilliant polish, +that we deeply regretted the perishable nature of living things, and +sighed as we reflected on the waste of so much loveliness on the more +than half-heathen crew of Malabar coolies who grinned and chattered +round the captives, and who had no appreciation whatever for crustacean +perfection, except in association with rice and a brass cooking-pot. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE COMMON RIVER CRAYFISH. + +(_Astacus fluviatilis._) + + +This little crustacean is very abundant in many of the rivers of +England, although it is by no means as general as might be anticipated +from its habits and mode of life. Rivulets and rivers in which clear +streams flow, are its favourite resort, and the holes amongst the roots +of trees, stones, or banks beneath the water, form snug retreats for +it. It is somewhat strange that in the western portion of England, +where running streams abound, the fresh water Cray is (except by name) +unknown. Its food consists of animal substances, the spawn of fish, +vegetable matter, the larvæ of water insects, &c. The rich scarlet +colour assumed after boiling makes the Cray a great favourite for +garnishing purposes; pic-nic parties are often formed for the sport +afforded in taking them. Long sticks or rods with cord lines, to which +pieces of bait are tied, are made use of to allure the Cray within the +reach of a small hand-net, when he is scooped out; some enterprising +anglers endeavour to throw them over their heads without using the net, +others in their anxiety to inveigle the coquettish crustacean, slip +on some slippery tree-trunk or moss-grown stone, and pay an unwilling +visit to the home of the Crays at the bottom. Pinched fingers and other +small catastrophes serve but to add to the general fun and hilarity of +the river-side revellers. In some of the West India Islands torchlight +expeditions of a like character are made to the streams flowing from +the hills, and the Crays lifted out, after having been previously +treated to pieces of _manioc_-root abundantly cast in the water for +them. This substance has the property of stupefying such shell-fish as +are silly enough to eat it, and the Cray pays the penalty of his too +unsuspicious disposition. The rivers of France are abundantly supplied +with _Ecrevisses_, as they are called in that country; enormous numbers +are eaten every day in Paris, and the other large cities and towns of +the continent. They are prepared in various ways for the table, and the +celebrated _potage à la bisque_ is made from them. + +A number of methods are had recourse to for their capture, amongst +which may be mentioned the sinking by stones, in localities known +to abound with them, rough bundles of thorn-sticks, with offal of +some description fastened up in them. The Crays, in their attempts +to obtain the dainty tit-bits, force their way through the entangled +twigs, and are unable to retreat with sufficient speed to escape being +drawn out when the Cray-catcher hooks out his treacherous _fascine_. +Small pieces of frog are highly esteemed baits. These are laid down +in considerable numbers along the course of the stream, and are after +some time visited, and the feasting Crays brought to bag. Some persons +are sufficiently indifferent to the nips they receive as to insert the +hand and arm beneath the roots and hollow banks, and so drag forth +their prey. There are other methods for Cray capture, but most of them +depend on the use of bait placed in traps, much like those used for +prawns, or some contrivance where entrance is easy and exit difficult, +and it is remarkable that in every country in the known world the same +principle is taken advantage of, in the construction of traps for fish, +birds, and animals. Whether we visit the almost unknown chains of ponds +among the gum-tree woods of Australia, the fern-clad river-banks of New +Zealand, the great streams flowing through North-west America, or the +tangled forests bordering the jeels, nullahs, and rivers of Central +India, basket traps of various sizes and forms, but all alike in their +mode of operation, will be found. Some we stumbled on while hunting +among the Bheels of Candeish were of elegant design,--trumpet mouthed, +and beautifully woven from the split-up fibres of single bamboo-joints, +the knot at the small end being left to form a sort of plug-hole, +through which the bait was introduced. + +_A. fluviatilis_ shifts his shell, much in the same manner as his +salt-water cousins, and, like them, is painfully nervous and retiring +in his habits during the hardening of the new case with which nature in +due time protects him. Like the sea lobster, the Cray is wonderfully +prolific, producing as many as 100,000 eggs in the breeding season, +which are carried securely about for some time by the parent fish +tucked up under the abdomen, and defended by the lateral rows of legs +and claws. A notion prevails in some localities that the goodness +of water may be surely tested by boiling a Cray in it, when, if the +quality is all that could be wished, the colour of the Cray should be +clear and bright red; whereas, if impure, the fish is said to remain +dull and lustreless. This, although a very old opinion, appears much +on a par with the idea, equally old, that a frog in a tea-kettle would +prevent the water therein contained from ever boiling. We greatly +fear, however, that a good brisk fire would not only go far towards +dissipating the superstition, but at the same time make it peculiarly +unpleasant for the frog. It has been stated, on good authority, +that _A. fluviatilis_ lives to a good old age under favourable +circumstances. Desmarest says that it has been known to live for more +than twenty years, and that it increases in size as age advances. +We are disposed to think, however, that there must be a limit to +development far within twenty years, or we should at times encounter +some “grandfather Cray” who would be far more pleasant to follow than +to meet, at any rate in his own element. + +The ancient Greeks appear, from the writings of early historians, to +have held the Cray in high esteem; and Alexandria had the reputation +for producing it of the best quality. The Romans, too, were not +behind-hand in their appreciation of the luxury, and some quaint +ingredients are mentioned by the old writers as being requisite to +complete the operations connected with its preparation. After being +boiled, we are told that the Cray was eaten flavoured with _cummin_ and +seasoned with pepper, _alisander_, parsley, dried mint, and more cummin +ground and mixed with honey, vinegar, and garum, with some liquid +perfume. Bosc informs us that “Crayfishes can be preserved several +days, not too warm, in baskets with some fresh grass, such as the +nettle, or in a bucket with three-eighths of an inch of water. If there +were enough water in it to cover them they would die in a few moments, +because their great consumption of air does not allow them to live in +water unless it is continually renewed.” The strange, mysterious waters +flowing through the mammoth caves of Kentucky contain, amongst other +wonders, considerable numbers of these interesting creatures; and we +have recently been favoured with a sight of two specimens of remarkable +size and beauty of form brought from the interior of Venezuela. + +Although neither crab, shrimp, or lobster, the bold and adventurous +diver as a “submarine armour-clad,” holds a conspicuous position, as +with helmet of proof, and ponderous, metal-soled boots, he plunges +fearlessly beneath the wave, and prosecutes his researches “full +fathoms five,” amongst the strange, weird fastnesses and cavernous +depths of the deep sea. Huge and terrible as he with his eyes of glass, +and India-rubber skin, must appear to the lesser inhabitants of the +ocean’s realms, there are “Tritons amongst the minnows,” who fear +him not, and would think little of making a meal of him, in spite of +his crystalline eyes and indigestible equipment. The records of the +voyage of H.M.S. _Fawn_ serve to show that the human “armour-clad,” +when submarine in his occupations, is by no means “Monarch of all he +surveys.” “The gunner of the _Fawn_, being a very expert diver, was +employed to recover the treasure from the Peninsular and Oriental +Company’s ship _Ava_, wrecked a few years ago on the coast of Ceylon. +Having, in a gutta-percha dress, made his way into the saloon, he was +busily searching for the bullion, when, to his horror, he saw a huge +ground shark come sailing in at the door. With great presence of mind +he lay motionless on the locker, and watched it silently and quietly +cruising about. One can well imagine his feelings when he saw its cold +green eyes fixed upon him, and felt it pushing against the leaden soles +of his boots, and rubbing against his dress, the slightest puncture +in which would have been certain destruction. About ten minutes of +suspense were thus passed, which must have seemed an age, during which +the monster came back twice or thrice to have another look at him. Mr. +Pound’s courage and coolness were at length rewarded by seeing him +steering his way back as he came. Afterwards, Mr. Pound always armed +himself with a dagger when he went down to the wreck, from which he +recovered altogether 22,000_l._, having spent some 850 hours under +water. He had also some narrow escapes at times from the opening +and shutting of the iron plates of the ship as they worked with the +roll of the sea. The air-pipe was twice severed from his helmet, but +fortunately, slackening it warned the people above to lose no time in +rescuing him from his perilous position.” + +One is almost tempted to envy the cunning, miserly old crabs, who +have it all their own way down amongst the branching coralines and +vase-shaped sponges, and crawl to their very hearts’ content over the +piles of sunken treasures scattered there. Treasures are there, too, +not of man’s garnering, growing like rich sea-flowers beneath the +waves. The sea feathers, or _plume corals_, are examples of these, +and are found sprouting, like ocean fern-leaves, from the rock cave’s +ledges, far down in the deep still water between the reefs; and we +shall see how a love for the beauty of Nature’s handiwork not only +led to the crabs being deprived of their hoard, but, favoured by good +fortune, proved a guide to wealth, station, and ultimately, nobility. +Thus goes the story, which, unlike many of a somewhat similar kind, has +the priceless advantage of being literally true. In the year 1650, one +Phipps, a blacksmith, of Pemaquid, in New England, was blessed with a +son, who was christened William, and who in very early life manifested +much ingenuity and a passion for ship-building. Very shortly after +the term of his apprenticeship to a shipwright had expired, he built +a vessel for himself, which he navigated in person; and hearing it +reported that a Spanish ship, freighted with bullion, had sunk in the +neighbourhood of the Bahamas, he at once betook himself to the scene +of the disaster, and made the most determined but fruitless efforts +to recover the lost gold. Treasure-seeking now appears to have become +a fixed occupation with Captain Phipps. In the year 1683 we find +him employed by the English Government to discover another lost ship +(also Spanish), of immense value. This he failed in accomplishing, but +became convinced that perseverance in the search would be ultimately +crowned with success. For five years he was unsuccessful in his urgent +applications for funds to renew his investigations, when the Duke +of Albemarle, the then Governor of Jamaica, not only fully credited +the assurances of Captain Phipps, but, better still, furnished him +with ample means and fitting apparatus for his new expedition. How he +reached the scene of his labours--how every lagune and gulf between +the reefs was searched in vain, until hope well-nigh vanished--we need +not dwell on here. No wreck could be discovered, and he had almost +determined to abandon the undertaking in despair, when, after a day of +more than ordinary fatigue and anxious exploration amongst the coral +rocks, his boat’s crew were rowing him slowly and dejectedly back to +his ship, one of the sailors directed his attention to a beautiful _sea +feather_, growing from the ledges of a sunken rock. “Alas!” said poor +Phipps, “there is a sea treasure indeed. I wish I could get it.” + +One of the good-humoured black divers who accompanied him, anxious +to oblige his commander, shot rapidly down to the coveted specimen, +and just as rapidly returned with it, exclaiming--“_Feather safe, +fine feather, but plenty big cannon down where feather live._” This +report, as may be readily imagined, made the sinking heart of the poor +captain leap again. Blackey was despatched to the regions below to +take another look at matters, and after a short absence came back with +the glorious news that there were “_plenty big boxes too, and lots of +this_,”--exhibiting his dusky paws filled with silver. Now the captain +was in his true element at last; and there lay the work he loved so +well, ready cut out for him; and he proved quite equal to the occasion, +for from that deep gulf, far down among the corals and the Crabs, in +whose custody it had quietly remained for more than half a century, +he brought to light thirty-two tons of silver bullion, besides large +quantities of gold, pearls, and other valuables. We find that Phipps +was knighted by James II. He was appointed Sheriff of New England, and +took command of a large expeditionary force against the French. We +afterwards find him in command of a fleet fitted out to oppose the same +enemy in Canada, and subsequently taking part in the Border warfare of +the period, as a leader of some celebrity; and at this point of his +career we bid adieu to Sir James Phipps and the happy-chance discovery +which led him on to greatness. + +There is yet another little crustacean, rather a delver than a diver, +well known to every sea-side visitor. This is the Sea Flea, or Sand +Hopper, as it is popularly called, and because of its saltitary powers, +young ladies in dainty boots keep at a most respectful distance from +the scene of its performances, and rival the hopper himself in the +agility with which they bound off on unwittingly invading the haunts +of that nimble little gentleman. Lift but a tuft of half-dried weed, +fragment of stranded wreck, stone, or tenantless shell, and up leap a +whole army of Hoppers, like as many peas on a drum-head. They appear +more vegetarian in their tastes than most other of their crustacean +family connexions, subsisting mainly on the various weeds found +scattered among the rocks. Fish and many other marine creatures feed +voraciously on them, and the Cornish chough, in his black satin coat +and scarlet stockings, picks them with marvellous dexterity with his +coral-coloured, forceps-like beak, from amongst the tangled web of +sea-cords and ocean-ribbons in which they delight to harbour. The +poor, frost-beset starling, too, when the white snow lies thick on +the pastures, and the pitiless north-east wind whistles down the +vale, finds amongst the oar-weed heaps cast up at high-tide level, +Sand Hoppers enough to prolong his wee-bird life till milder winds +and better times smile, on the land and him. So even the most pigmy +atoms of creation perform their allotted parts in the great plan which +an all-wise Providence has so wisely laid down for created beings, +and we become lost in wonder, at the marvellous and inscrutable laws +brought to bear in its furtherance. The saltness of the sea, the metal +iodine residing in its countless myriads of weeds, the migrations of +the mighty hosts of fish, the ebbing and flowing of the tide, the +labours of the coral insect, the strange sponge-growths, trade winds, +and warm currents setting in from one region to another, all evince +the operation of laws, far too vast for man, with all his boasted +power, to penetrate or understand. As there are “sermons in stones, +voices in running brooks, and good in everything,” so is there beauty +and evidence of Divine foresight to be found under every fragment of +drift-wood, cast between the rocks; each upturned stone discloses some +wonder of creation, and as the mighty billows thunder on the strand and +carry in their backward rush the beds of ever-wearing shingle, fretting +and grinding with them, frail humanity can but look from nature, up to +nature’s God, and feel its own utter insignificance. + +The ocean’s broad expanse, when lulled in calm tranquillity, is no +less a subject for pleasant and profound meditation, and he who seeks +a field for peaceful reflection may find it by drifting away on the +unruffled bosom of the deep; and as the bark bears him slowly onward, +Montgomery’s lines will not fail to strike his memory:-- + + “Sky, sun, and sea, were all the universe, + The sky, one blue interminable arch + Without a breeze, or wing, or cloud; the sun + Sole in the firmament, but in the deep + Redoubled; where the circle of the sea, + Invisible with calmness, seems to lie + Within the hollow of a lower heaven.” + +We could willingly thus gossip on, and prolong the journey on which +our companion the reader has so far accompanied us, but all rambles +amongst the rocks, or elsewhere, must have an end; our journey in +search of crustacean lore can be no exception to this stern law, and we +bid our fellow-pilgrim a cordial adieu until we meet again to ramble +forth, staff in hand, cockle-shell in hat, and wallet on shoulder, to +gather fresh stores of some other lore, so lavishly scattered along the +pleasant paths where Nature, in all her goodness and beauty, beckons us +to follow. + + + + +INDEX. + + + A. + + Anemone, the, 44. + + _Anthozoa_, the living blossoms of the ocean, 31. + + Apicius, his love of crabs, 3; + his journey to Africa in search of crayfish, 103. + + _Apus productus_, his curious habits, 88. + + Australia, a land of contradictions, 66, 67. + + _Ava_, wreck of the, 111, 112; + diving for the treasure, 112. + + + B. + + Baby Crabs, their curious forms and habits, 4. + + Baits, different kinds of, 19. + + _Bêche-de-mer_, the, 69; + in great request in China, 69. + + Billingsgate Market, 81; + number of lobsters brought to, 94, 95. + + _Birgus latro_, the, 45; + his habits, 48, 51. + + Bismuth, change of colour effected by, 27. + + Boat’s creeper, use of the, 11. + + Boiling of crabs, 25; + on the change of colour during the process, 26. + + _Bopyrus crangorum_, a parasite crustacean, 87. + + Burrowing crabs, 45, 57. + + + C. + + Cancer of the Zodiac, 1; + representation of the, 1, 2; + depicted in heraldic devices, 3. + + _Cancer dentatus_, the, 63. + + _Cancer pagurus_, the edible crab of the shops, 8. + + “Cape pigeons,” 66. + + “Cape salmon,” 66. + + _Cardium exignum_, 43. + + Chads, capture of, 18. + + Chemistry, judgments created by, 27. + + Cherry of Australia, 67. + + Cochineal bug, colour produced by the, 27. + + Cocoa-nut eating crab, the, 45, 46, 48. + + Colour, change of, in boiling crabs, 26. + + Colours produced by different agencies, 27. + + Columbus, anecdote of, 67. + + Conger eels, their habits, 102. + + Coral-formed islands of the South Seas, 51. + + Coral reefs, marine creatures of the, 30. + + Cork-float, use of the, 19. + + Crabbe, the poet, lines from, 31. + + Crabbers, the professional ones, 9, 11. + + Crab-fishing, account of, 10, 11; + materials to be provided, 11; + by juveniles, 28; + to be pursued at very low tides, 79. + + Crab-hook, use of the, 22. + + Crab-hunting expedition, 49. + + Crab-pots, or baskets for capturing crabs, 9, 11; + of great utility, 14. + + Crab-sausages, the Roman method of preparing, 3. + + Crab whelks, 34. + + Crabs, historical notices of, 1, _et seq._; + the “Cancer” of the ancients, 2; + the baby crabs, or _Zoëa_, 4: + internal economy as curious as his external skeleton, 5; + his liver an odd organ, _ib._; + his lungs or gills, 6; + the shell-shifting process of, _ib._; + his unenviable position between the loss of his old shell and the + secret of a new one, 7; + the large edible crab of the shops, the most important member of + the crab family, 8; + the various methods by which crabs can be taken, 9, 10; + the hooks and implements in general use, 11, _et seq._; + the use of the gut-knot, 17; + a great number taken with the crab-hook, 22; + methods of using it, 23; + tenacity of their grip, _ib._; + how the haunts of the crab are discovered, 24; + their pugnacity, _ib._; + judgment required to select a good crab for table, 24, 25; + how to discover the sexes, 25; + proper mode of boiling, _ib._; + the change of colour during the process, 26, _et seq._; + crab-fishing of juveniles, 28; + the harbour or shore crab, 29; + the swimming crab, _ib._; + the velvet swimming crab, 30; + spider crabs, 32, 33; + hermit crabs, 33; + crab-whelks, 34; + pea-crabs, 34, 41; + contained in the Philippine Island sponge, 35, 37; + small crabs in the shells of the great silk-yielding mussel, 39; + the _Pinna muricata_, 40-42; + the burrowing crabs, 45; + the great cocoa-nut eating crab, _ib._; + excellent oil produced by, 49; + crab-hunting expeditions, 48, 50; + the land crab, 52; + termination of the spawning season, 54; + their cunning and activity, 54, 55; + their quaint proceedings among the Mahratta jungles, 55; + the genus _Thelphusa_ and its habits, 55, 56; + the sand crab, 57; + the _Gelasimus_, _ib._; + the king crab, 58; + humorous anecdote of, 60; + crab-life on the coasts of Japan, 61, 62; + on the coasts of Tasmania, 62; + on the Chilian coasts, 63; + the Chinese crab, _ib._; + the various and general species, 63, _et seq._; + the goat crab, 64; + the _Parthenope horrida_, _ib._; + the _Dromia lator_, 64, 65; + the _Echinocerus cibarius_, 65; + the _Pilumnus nespertilis_, 66; + the _Planes minutus_, 67, 68; + the floating crabs, 68; + the Southern Seas inhabited by legions of crabs, 68, 69; + modes of catching them, 70, 71. + + Crawfish of America, 86. + + Cray-fish, or craw-fish, artificially propagated, 94; + its natural habits, 100; + fishing for, 100, 101; + Walpole’s account of, 102; + journey of Africans in quest of, 103; + huge dimensions of, as recorded by Pliny, 104; + tables of ancient Rome often garnished with, 104; + the common one of rivers, 106; + its great abundance, 107; + its natural habits, 107; + various methods for capturing them, 108; + shifts his shell, 109; + wonderfully prolific, 109; + held in high esteem by the Greeks and Romans, 110. + + Creepers, use of the, 11, 12. + + Crustaceans, their shell-shifting process, 6, 7; + of the deep, 31; + the principal food of the salmonidæ, 12; + endless types of, in the Southern and Eastern Seas, 61; + their monstrous size and strength, 62; + troughs for hatching, 93; + their proximity to other races, 99. + + Cuffee’s attack on the land crabs, 53, 54. + + Cup-shrimps, 82. + + Cuttle-fish, the, 40, 41. + + _Cyamus ceti_, the, 84. + + + D. + + Diver, fearful incident connected with the, 111, 112. + + Dredges for shrimping, 76. + + Dress for shrimping, 79. + + _Dromia lator_, the, 64. + + + E. + + _Echinocerus cibarius_, the, 65. + + Eel-basket, how constructed, 10. + + Eel-grass, 99. + + _Euplectella_, the, 38. + + + F. + + Feejee Islands, affection of a chief for a little midshipman, 3. + + Fairy shrimp, the, 87. + + Fiddler crab, the, 29. + + Fish, hooking of, 18. + + Fish-hooks, how to manage them, 12. + + Fishing, implements proper for, 17, 18. + + Fishing leads, 20. + + Fishing-tackle, of great utility, 14. + + Floating crabs, 68. + + Float-line, mackerel-fishing with the, 19. + + Flower-basket of the Philippine Islands, 35, 36; + its curious shape and texture, 38. + + Frame-reel, use of the, 15. + + + G. + + _Gelasimus_, a genus of crab, 57; + his curious habits, 58. + + Goat crab, the, 64. + + Gray, Dr., on Venus’s flower-basket, 38, 39. + + Greenland whale, fed by shrimps, 83. + + Gut-knot, use of the, 17. + + + H. + + Half-hitches, use of, 13. + + Hand-line fishing, 15. + + Harbour crab, the, 29. + + Hermit crabs, 33. + + Hooking of fish, 18. + + Hoop-net, the, 80. + + + J. + + Japan, crustacean life on the coasts of, 61. + + + K. + + Keer-drag, for shrimping, 75. + + Killick, use of the, 11. + + King-Crab, of the Eastern Seas, 58. + + + L. + + Land crabs, 52; + their extraordinary march towards the sea, 53; + their return after the spawning season, 54; + attack on, 55. + + Landing-net and gaff, 14. + + Leads for fishing, 20, 21. + + _Leucosia urania_, the, 63. + + Liver of the crab, 5, 6. + + Lobster-fishing, its great importance, 94, 95. + + Lobster pigment, soluble in spirits of wine, 26. + + Lobster season, 97. + + Lobster-shell green, 27. + + Lobsters, historical notices of, 90, _et seq._; + their powers of vision, 91; + modes of capturing them, 92; + their prolific nature, _ib._; + plans for artificial fecundation, and apparatus for, 93; + numbers of brought to Billingsgate Market, 94, 95; + large importation of, _ib._; + their popularity extends to all parts of the world, 96; + strange use of them during the Indian war, _ib._; + shifting of their shells, when they become unfit for human food, 97; + their care of offspring, 98; + abundant on the coasts of British North America, _ib._; + captured by pic-nic parties, _ib._; + the spined lobster, 100; + the crayfish variety, 100-102; + swarms of, in the South American Seas, 102; + fishing for, _ib._; + found on the coral reefs of the Mauritius, 105. + (See _Crayfish_.) + + Loop slip, use of the, 13. + + Lucky stones, anecdote of the, 59. + + + M. + + Mackerel-fishing, 19. + + _Macrocheira-kœmpferi_, the, 62. + + Mauritius, the coral reefs of, the great resort of Crayfish, 105. + + Mauve dresses, &c., tincture imparted to the, 27. + + _Medusidæ_, family of the, 31. + + _Mithraculus coronatus_, the, 63. + + _Mytilus edulis_, 41. + + + N. + + _Neptunus pelagicus_, the, 63. + + Nets for shrimping, 75. + + Nets for shrimp-catching, 80. + + Nut crab, the, 59; + anecdote of the, _ib._ + + + O. + + Ocean, its broad expanse, a subject for profound meditation, 117. + + _Oceanus crucifer_, 63. + + Opossum of the shrimp family, 83, 84; + fed on by the whale, 84. + + _Ou-Ou_, the, 45; + his habits, 48. + + Oyster-knife, Roman, found near Cirencester, 3, _note_. + + + P. + + Pagurus, the, 44. + + _Parthenope horrida_, 64. + + Pea-crab, the, 34, 41. + + Phipps, Captain, anecdote of, 113; + his treasure-seeking adventures, 114; + his important discoveries, 115; + knighted by James II., _ib._ + + Pic-nic parties for lobster-fishing, 98. + + _Pilumnus nespertilis_, the, 66. + + Pinna, 39, 40; + a shell-fish, 42; + lines on, by Oppiannus, 42; + different species of the, 41, 43. + + _Pinnotheres_, varieties of, 43, 44. + + _Planes minutus_, 67, 68. + + Plume corals, 113. + + Pole net for shrimping, 77, 78. + + _Porcellana longicornis_, the, 61. + + Pouting, capture of, 18. + + Prawns, historical notices of, 73, _et seq._; + capture of, 77; + their aquatic haunts, 78; + catching of, 80; + their estimated value, 81; + an excellent bait for salmon, 82; + of very large size in the Carribean Sea, 86; + parasite on the carapace of, _ib._ + (See _Shrimp_.) + + + R. + + Rag-worm, use of, as a bait, 18. + + Reels, use of, 16. + + Robins of the United States, 66. + + Rod-fishing, 18. + + Rods useful in fishing, 17. + + Romans, crabs appreciated by the, 2, 3. + + Round plait prepared salmon line, 15. + + + S. + + Salmon-trip, how constructed, 10. + + Sand-crab, the, 57. + + Sand hopper, its natural habits, 116. + + Sand raiser, the, 72, 73. + + Sand-shrimp, the, 73. + + Sea fishing-tackle, of great utility, 14. + + Sea-flea, its natural habits, 116. + + _Sepia_, or cuttle-fish, 40. + + Serpent orders of the Indian Seas, lines on the, 32. + + Shark, fearful visit of the, 112. + + Shell-shifting process of crabs, 6; + its difficulties and discomforts, 7. + + Shell, the inhabitants often dispossessed, and occupied by another, + 33. + + Shore-crab, the, 29. + + Shrimp-fisheries for the supply of London and other markets, 81. + + Shrimps, historical notices of, 73, _et seq._; + often confounded with prawns, 73; + named the “Sand-raiser,” 74; + their cunning, _ib._; + contrivances for catching them, 74, _et seq._; + materials and implements for catching them, 79; + dress for, _ib._; + advantage to be taken of low tides, 80; + hoop-net used for taking them, _ib._; + fisheries for, 81; + enormous quantities of, consumed in London, 81, 82; + the endless variety of, yielded by the Indian and Chinese Seas, 85; + and also by lakes, ponds, and streams, 87, 88; + the fairy shrimp, 87. + (See _Prawns_.) + + Silk-worm gut, 15. + + Silk-yielding mussel, 39. + + Skeleton of the crab, 5. + + Slugs, value of in the Chinese market, 71. + + Slug-hunters, 70. + + Smelts, capture of, 19. + + Soldier crabs, 33. + + South Seas, coral-formed islands of the, 51. + + Southern Seas, inhabited by legions of crabs, 68, 69. + + Spawning season of the land-crabs, 54. + + Spider crabs, 32, 33. + + Squat lobsters, 99. + + Swimming crabs, 29. + + + T. + + Table, selection of a thoroughly good crab for the, 24, 25. + + _Thelphusa fluviatilis_, a genus of crab, 55; + religions anciently connected with the, 57. + + Traps for catching crabs, 10. + + Traveller blocks, use of the, 21. + + Trepang of the Southern Seas, 69; + process of boiling, 70. + + Troughs for hatching crustacea, 93. + + Trout-hooks, 18, 19. + + + V. + + Velvet swimming crab, the, 30. + + Venus’s flower-basket, of the Philippine Islands, 35, 36; + its curious texture, 36. + + + W. + + Walpole’s account of fishing for crayfish, 102. + + Whelk-shells, 34. + + Whiting, capture of, 18. + + + Y. + + Yoke-lines used in shrimping, 75. + + +R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, DREAD STREET HILL. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + +Obvious typos and missing characters corrected. However, the following +have been left unchanged from the original: author’s spelling of +“hybernation”, “Macrocheira-kœmpferi”; extra closing bracket on page 57. + +The text on page 74, which describes the illustration “The Dredge”, has +incorrectly referred to part A on the illustration with a lowercase “a”. + +Inconsistencies in hyphenation retained. + +Missing punctuation in index corrected. + +The positions of some illustrations were moved to enhance readability. +Page numbers from the original list of illustrations have been retained. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77735 *** diff --git a/77735-h/77735-h.htm b/77735-h/77735-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d729e5e --- /dev/null +++ b/77735-h/77735-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4496 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <title> + Crab, shrimp, and lobster lore | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; } +li.ifrst { + margin-top: 1em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; + font-weight: bold; +} +li.indx { + margin-top: .5em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.isub1 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 2em; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + +blockquote { + margin-top: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} + + +figcaption {font-weight: normal;} +figcaption p {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: .2em; text-align: inherit;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} +.x-ebookmaker .figleft {float: left;} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} +.x-ebookmaker .figright {float: right;} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + +.ph1 { + text-align: center; + font-size: xx-large; + font-weight: bold; +} +.ph2 { + text-align: center; + font-size: x-large; + font-weight: bold; +} +.transnote { + margin-left:17.5%; + margin-right:17.5%; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .ep4 {margin-top: 4em;} + +li { margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom:0; line-height: 1.2em; } + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} + + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp40 {width: 40%;} +.illowp50 {width: 50%;} +.illowp70 {width: 70%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp50 {width: 100%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77735 ***</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</span></p> + + +<h1> +CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. +</h1> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ii"></a><a id="Page_iii"></a><a id="Page_iv"></a>[Pg iv]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_f004" style="max-width: 25.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_f004.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>A PARTY OF “OU-OU” HUNTERS.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></p> + + +<p class="ph1">CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE,</p> + +<p class="ph2 p2" style="line-height: 1.5em;"><i>GATHERED AMONGST THE ROCKS<br> +AT THE SEA-SHORE,<br> +BY THE RIVERSIDE, AND IN THE FOREST</i>.</p> + + +<p class="center p4" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="smcap">By</span> W. B. LORD, R.A.</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: small;">AUTHOR OF “SEA-FISH, AND HOW TO CATCH THEM,” “THE SILK WORM BOOK.”<br> +ETC. ETC.</p> + + +<p class="center p6"><span style="font-size: x-large;">LONDON:<br> +GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,</span><br> +<span style="font-size: large;">THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE.<br> +1867.</span></p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span></p> + + +<p class="center ep4" style="font-size: small;">LONDON:<br> +R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,<br> +BREAD STREET HILL.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE"> + PREFACE. + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>What say you to a ramble among the fairy rock +pools, weed-covered ledges, and gem-decked parterres +bordering the gardens of the sea? Where +ocean plants and flowrets of a thousand hues and +tints wave their trailing tendrils, and unfold their +feathery fronds, in the crystal waters, and to an +expedition to far-off lands and tropic islands +raised from the sea’s depths by the mighty +labours of the tiny coral insect; where the tough +roots of the graceful, fern-like palms, are ever +bathed by the snow-white foam, and where the +fresh sea breeze, sings merrily through the grove, +to the deep-toned thunder of the surf as it breaks +on the wide-stretching reef, and is scattered in +a rainbow shower far within the still lagunes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</span>beyond its rampart-like borders. We do not +journey thus far to gather gold, gems, or pearls, +neither is our object warlike, although we purpose +visiting the mailed hosts in and about +their strongholds, and investigating the economy +of the submarine armour-clads, in their own harbours. +Should the adventure be to your taste, +we will, together, explore the keeps, caverns, and +points of vantage in which some of these sea +champions reside, inspect the armories with +which they are furnished, and note the nature and +quality of their equipment. As man makes war on +his fellow-man, and devises not only weapons of +offence and destruction, but shields and defensive +armour wherewith to protect himself, so nature—from +whom many of the most perfect examples of +both have been borrowed by the human race—furnishes +to the swordfish, the long and sharp rapier, +with which he deals out death to the huge, and +mighty whale; the beautifully barbed spear to the +<i>sting ray</i>, and the dagger-like spines which arm +so many of the freebooters of the sea: the massive +mail of the turtle; the castles of exquisite design +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</span>in which the shell-bearing molluscs dwell, and +the armour of proof possessed by the crustaceæ, +are all fashioned by the same skilled hand; and +so marvellously perfect and admirable are their +adaptation to the purposes for which they are +intended, that man, with all his boasted intelligence, +can only wonder, admire, and endeavour +to imitate.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a><a id="Page_xi"></a>[Pg xi]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS"> + CONTENTS. + </h2> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<th class="tdl"> +</th> +<th class="tdr"> +PAGE +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +CRABS +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#Page_1">1</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#Page_73">73</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +LOBSTERS +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#Page_90">90</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +RIVER CRAYFISH +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#Page_106">106</a> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a><a id="Page_xiii"></a>[Pg xiii]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"> + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + </h2> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<th class="tdl"> +</th> +<th class="tdr"> +PAGE +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +A PARTY OF “OU-OU” HUNTERS +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 2em;"> +<i><a href="#i_f004">Frontispiece.</a></i> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +“CANCER,” A SIGN OF THE ZODIAC +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p001">1</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +A CRAB IN TESSELATED PAVEMENT +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p002">2</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +“BABY CRABS,” OR ZOËA +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p004">4</a>, <a href="#i_p005">5</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +LARGE EDIBLE CRAB (<i>Cancer pagurus</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p008">8</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +CRAB POT +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p009">9</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +A “BECUED CREEPER” +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p011">11</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +FISH-HOOK FASTENINGS +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p012">12</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +LOOP SLIP +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p013_1">13</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +STONE HITCH +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p013_2">13</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +FRAME REEL +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p015">15</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +GUT KNOT +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p016">16</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +KNIFE TWISTER +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p017">17</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +FISHING LEADS +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p020">20</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +TRAVELLER LINE +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p021">21</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +HARBOUR CRAB (<i>Carcinus maenas</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p028">28</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +VELVET SWIMMING CRAB (<i>Portunus puber</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p030">30</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +COMMON SLENDER SPIDER CRAB (<i>Stenorynchus tenuirostris</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p033">33</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>Pagurus Bernhardus</i> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p034">34</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +VENUS’S FLOWER-BASKET (<i>Euplectella speciosa</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p036">36</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +COMMON PEA CRAB (<i>Pinnotheres pisum</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p042">42</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</span>PINNA PEA CRAB (<i>P. veterum</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p043">43</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +THE “OU-OU,” OR COCOA-NUT CRAB (<i>Birgus latro</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p046">46</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +THE EUROPEAN LAND CRAB (<i>Thelphusa fluviatilis</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p056">56</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +COMMON SAND SHRIMP (<i>Crangon vulgaris</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p074">74</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +THE DREDGE +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p075">75</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +SAND SHRIMP NET +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p076">76</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +POLE SHRIMP NET +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p078">78</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +PRAWN NET +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p080">80</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +COMMON PRAWN AND PARASITE +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p086">86</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +THE COMMON ENGLISH LOBSTER (<i>Homarus vulgaris</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p090">90</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +LOBSTER TRAP +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p091">91</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +HATCHING TROUGH (French) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p092">92</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +PAN AND TUB ARRANGEMENT +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p093">93</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +NORWAY LOBSTER (<i>Nephrops Norvegicus</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p095">95</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +SPINED LOBSTER, OR CRAY (<i>Palinurus vulgaris</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p100">100</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +THE COMMON RIVER CRAY (<i>Astacus fluviatilis</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#i_p106">106</a> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION"> + INTRODUCTION. + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The crustaceans, to whose homes we propose bending +our steps, have some strange and note-worthy peculiarities +of form, structure, and habits. Instead of, +like ordinary creatures, having skeletons <i>in them</i>, on +which their tissues are disposed (much as fashionable +milliners arrange the captivating raiment of the fair), +they, in an apparently perverse and independent spirit, +adopt a custom of their own, which to us would, to +say the very least of it, prove most uncomfortable and +inconvenient, and wear their skeletons <i>outside</i> instead +of <i>in</i>; and although fashions do not (so far as our +experience has gone) change in the realms of King +Neptune, and no startling announcement meets the +eager eye of Mrs. Crab, or the charming Misses Lobster, +that a sweet new thing in skeletons has just arrived +at the emporium of Sponge, Limpet, and Co. Limited, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</span>no crustacean lady or gentleman ever thinks of being +content with one, for the term of her or his natural +life; but as the external coverings become worn, and +feel uncomfortably circumscribed, a restlessness, and +yearning for variety is felt; and, like Professor Owen, +their longings are for <i>a new skeleton</i>, and, like that +gifted anatomist, rest not, until one is obtained. Unlike +the page who, in a complete suit of armour, accompanied +his noble master to the Holy Wars, and, as the +legend goes, returned after years of absence, a dwarf, +from having nothing else to wear, our friends are more +prolific in expedient, as will be seen by those who +investigate.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> + + + <p class="ph1"> + CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. + </p> + + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CRABS"> + CRABS. + </h2> +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p001" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p001.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>From the very earliest periods of the world’s history +the family of Crab appears to have been well known +and much respected, and the Zodiac would be incomplete +without its “<i>Cancer</i>.” The picture from which +the accompanying illustration is taken was drawn +by an artist of the thirteenth century, and appears as +an embellishment in a Prayer-book which afterwards +became the property of Queen Mary, and is now in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span>the British Museum. It serves to show the idea +entertained in this country of that particular sign at +the period referred to. Those remarkably odd fellows +the early Romans, even in their time, were not the sort +of folks to overlook or heedlessly pass by the merits of +so distinguished a gentleman as Mr. Cancer. He was +well known and highly appreciated in the Seven-hilled +City long before Art, except as brought to bear on the +delineation of rude and uncouth patterns on the skins +of the inhabitants, was known in this country. But +when the restless Roman gentry, before referred to, +cast their lot on a distant shore, and settled in the +savage British Isles, they bore with them memories not +to be effaced or treated lightly. Tesselated pavements +in Cancer’s honour were elaborately wrought, and carefully +laid down by them in the villas they here built +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span>for themselves. The accompanying illustration represents +a portion of one of these pavements discovered at +Cirencester in the year 1783.⁠<a id="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p002" style="max-width: 12em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p002.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="label">[1]</a> A Roman oyster-knife was found buried not far from the +site of one of these ancient villas.</p></div> + +<p>A great deal of this esteem, it is to be feared, somewhat +resembled the great affection professed by a +chief of the Feejee Islands for a very good-looking +little midshipman of one of Her Majesty’s ships cruising +among those fertile but questionable retreats. “I love +him very much,” said the dusky potentate, “because +he is so plump, and would make such a delicious roast +with palm-top stuffing.” Apicius loved Crab because +he was good in many ways. Hear what he says of +Crab sausages: “Boil some of these animals, reduce +them to a pulp; mix with this some spikenard, garum, +pepper, and eggs; give to this the ordinary shape of +sausages, place them on a stove or gridiron; and you +will by this means obtain a delicate and tempting +dish.” He also informs us that a Crab may be served +whole, boiled, and accompanied by a seasoning of +pepper, cummin, and rue, which the cook skilfully +mixes with garum, honey, oil, and vinegar. Later on +in history we find our friend Cancer depicted in heraldic +devices, and among the armorial bearings of many +influential families. So we see that his lineage is an +ancient one. The family to which he belongs is extremely +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span>numerous, and it is with the peculiarities of +some of its members that we shall now have to deal.</p> + +<figure class="figleft illowp40" id="i_p004" style="max-width: 12em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p004.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Among all the curious and quaint forms of animal +life to be found in the sea, few for grotesque oddity +can equal the baby Crabs, or <i>Zoëa</i>, as they are sometimes +called. These interesting infants are not the +least like their papa or mamma, and no respectable or +fully-matured male or female Crab would ever own +them as his or her offspring. An elfish little creature +is the juvenile Crab, with +a head scarcely deserving +the name, and a pair of +goggle bulls’-eyes as of two +policemen’s lanterns rolled +into one; a tail vastly too +long for him, and an anti-garotte +spear, quite as long +as his absurd little body, +attached to the spot where +his coat-collar should be. The annexed illustrations +will serve to give some idea of these prepossessing +juveniles. They are the portraits of two little cousins. +In this case, age, although it alters appearances, +affects disposition but little, and, as you turn over +some stone, fragment of wreck, or tuft of weed, +in search of curiosities, young Master Crab will, +in all probability, be found at home, and, like an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span>enraged dentist, ready to do fierce battle against all +intruders with his upraised pincers. This is the ill-disposed +young gentleman who sends <i>Lotty</i> or <i>Totty</i>, +with heartrending screams and pinched pettitoes, in +wild dismay from the charming shell-floored pool, in +which they have been paddling. Master Crab’s internal +economy is just as curious as his external skeleton. +One pair of jaws one would be disposed to think +sufficient for any living creature of reasonable requirements; +but he possesses eight, and, instead of exposing +his teeth to the examination of the critical in matters +of dentition, he carries them safely stowed away in the +interior of his stomach, where they would be excessively +hard to get at in cases of crustacean tooth-ache. +With such appliances as these, the food cannot well +be otherwise than perfectly masticated. A Crab’s +liver is an odd organ to contemplate, and constitutes +a considerable portion of the soft interior of the shell-like +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span>box in which the heart and other viscera are +lodged. That well-known yellow delicacy known as +the <i>cream</i> or <i>fat</i> of the Crab is <i>liver</i>, and nothing else. +The lungs or gills are formed by those fringe-like +appendages popularly known as the <i>dead men’s fingers</i>. +The shell-shifting process before referred to, is common +to all crustaceans; and our friend the Crab, when he +feels his corselet getting rather tight for him, manages, +by some extraordinary process, not only to extricate +himself from it, together with his shell gauntlets and +the powerful nippers with which he is provided, but +performs other feats, compared with which those of +the Davenport Brothers sink into utter insignificance; +and we opine that, had those eminent spiritualists been +called on to do by the aid of all their shadowy accomplices +one half of that which Cancer and his cousins the +lobsters and crays do unassisted, no Tom Fool’s knot +would have been needed to complete their discomfiture. +Not only are the too-constricted shell and claw coverings +cast aside, but also the outer cornea of the eyes; +the stem sheath of the eyes; the lining of the stomach +with the internal teeth; the internal bones of the +thorax; the lining membrane of the ear, and that covering +the lungs; thus very nearly turning themselves inside +out, as well as getting rid of their old suits of clothes. +But all these wonderful operations are not performed +with the ease with which the chrysalis sets free the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span>painted butterfly, or the village maid, by touch of fairy +wand, throws off her homely garb, and steps forth the +gauzy glittering columbine in the transformation scene +of a pantomime; but are works of time and trouble, +the body appearing to dilate within its prison until the +coffer-like cover formed by the shell slowly and by +degrees gives way, the membranes one by one are torn +asunder, the muscular tissue filling up the large claws +and pincers undergoes a softening process which admits +of its being drawn through the constrictions between +the joints, and the crustacean and his old garments +part company at last.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p005" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p005.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Between the loss of the old shell and the secretion +of a new one, nothing can be more unenviable than +the position occupied by our poor forlorn friend, who, +like some fashionable exquisite during a temporary +misunderstanding with his tailor, seeks retirement and +obscurity. The pert young crablings, inquisitive, +troublesome little <i>gobies</i>, and irritating prawns, who a +short time since treated him with due respect, now pinch +his unprotected skin and nibble at his poor defenceless +tail in a manner not to be endured; so he shuns +society, goes into dock for repairs, and waits for fresh +<i>sheathing</i> and his new pincers to grow. These under +favourable circumstances soon form, and “Richard is +himself again.” It is our opinion that these moultings +or changes do not, as some authors have stated, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>take place at regular and stated intervals in the lives +of the larger crustacea, as rapidity of growth in particular +individuals would tend to accelerate the period +for change, and it appears probable, from the number +and size of the marine molluscæ constantly found +adhering to the shells of fully-matured specimens +(oysters of even six years’ growth having been so discovered), +that the changes of shell become less frequent +as age advances.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p008" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p008.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p009" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p009.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The most important member of the Crab family, in +a commercial and gustatory point of view, found in +this country, is the large edible Crab of the shops, +<i>Cancer pagurus</i>, the subject of the annexed illustration; +and its capture not only gives employment to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>an immense number of families along the sea-board +of England and its home dependencies, but forms an +admirable school for the training of the hardy mariners +so much needed for both our navy and mercantile +marine. The professional <i>crabber</i> is usually an expert +boatman, and line, or rather <i>hook</i>-fisher, in addition to +his crab-catching powers. There are several methods +by which Crabs can be taken, but that usually resorted +to for the capture of the kind now under consideration +is by <i>crab pots</i>, or baskets, woven of +unbarked willows.⁠<a id="FNanchor_2_2" href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> These are contrived much on +the principles of the common wire mousetrap, a number +of points being arranged in funnel form at the +entrance, so as to admit of free ingress, but rendering +exit quite a different affair, and one by no means +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>easy of accomplishment. The eel-basket, the salmon-<i>trip</i>, +and many other fish traps are made in much the +same manner, with some modifications as to material +and size. Pieces of fish and fish offal are usually used +as bait for these contrivances. This is secured within +the basket, which, with a heavy stone as a sinker, +and a long line with a float attached to it, is +lowered down from the boat amongst sunken rocks +and in the deep gulfs between reefs, where ledge, +crevice, and secret cranny are known to afford hiding-places +to the sought-for prey; and here the traps are +allowed to rest, sometimes for the night, at others a +shorter period, just as convenience or the probability +of a take may suggest, when, the float being found and +the line hauled in, the pot with its contents are soon +safely on board the boat. Where many persons engage +in the same occupation, it is necessary, in order to +avoid mistakes as to the identity of the traps, to have +certain distinguishing marks by which they may be +known. Each fisherman, therefore, has his own pattern +for the float—one using a single piece of circular form, +another, a single square, whilst a third either piles +several pieces in conical form, or cuts a peculiarly-formed +cross. A plan we strongly recommend to those +who wish to amuse themselves by catching Crabs for +their own use, is to use a large flat bung, made of +stout cork, nail a piece of strong tough wood, such as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>elm, to the under surface, in order to prevent splitting, +burn a hole with a hot iron large enough for the float +line to pass through, tie a knot or work a Turk’s head +on the end of the line, paint the upper surface of the +cork white, and then burn your initials deeply into the +cork with a branding iron. The crabbers as a body are +rarely dishonest, but little mistakes are at times made +when crab-pots are insufficiently marked by the owner, +and Crabs at a premium; still there are very few so +utterly indifferent to the voice of public reprobation as +to “<i>haul another man’s pots</i>,” a crime in the eyes of a +fishing community pretty much on a par with stealing +a sheep or robbing a church. Should you embark in +the crabbing line, take our earnest +advice: provide yourself with +a boat with plenty of beam; +have every rope, net, and line you +use tanned; and never let your +boat’s <i>creeper</i>, or “killick,” go on +rocky ground without making use +of the precaution shown in the accompanying +illustration, known as +“Becueing,” or the loss of creeper +and <i>creeper</i> line into the bargain +will be very likely to follow.</p> + +<figure class="figright illowp40" id="i_p011" style="max-width: 10em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p011.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2_2" href="#FNanchor_2_2" class="label">[2]</a> Galvanized iron wire has been much advocated as a material +for their construction.</p></div> + +<p>It will be seen, on referring to the above cut, that +the line after having been secured to the ring at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>head of the creeper shank, as at <span class="allsmcap">A</span>, is brought down +and passed under one of the claws as at <span class="allsmcap">B</span>. It is again +brought up until it meets the ring, to which it is +secured with a piece of common twine doubled, or a +bit of single spun yarn, as at <span class="allsmcap">C</span>. It will be at once +seen that, on either of the claws becoming fixed in a +rock or under a ledge (a matter of constant occurrence +when fishing from a moored boat), by pulling heavily +on the line the twine or yarn <i>stopper</i> gives way, and +the creeper becomes immediately free by being capsized, +and can then be readily hauled in.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p012" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p012.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>To safely bring a large fish to basket after it is +hooked requires skill, patience, and proper appliances. +Hooks and their attachments to the traces should be +well looked to before commencing operations. There +are two modes of fastening on fish-hooks. One, as in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>the foregoing cut <span class="allsmcap">A</span>, is with well-waxed silk or thread, +binding the hook-wire and trace firmly and neatly +together, and then finishing off by passing the end of +the lashing back under three or four turns of itself, +<i>vide cut</i> <span class="allsmcap">B</span>, and then drawing it tightly home. The +other plan is by <i>half hitches</i>, two or three of which are +turned over the shaft of the hook below the flattened +end usually made to sea-hooks; when drawn tight the +turns of line may be pressed up compactly together with +the thumb nail. The accompanying cut <span class="allsmcap">C</span> will better +explain the mode of putting on the hitches than would +any written description. Both traces and lines should +have loops made in the ends; these, when run together +by what is called <i>the loop slip</i>, shown in the +above illustration, make a very neat and secure +fastening. Stones are conveniently fastened on as +sinkers to lines mounted with many hooks; by the +plan shown in the above cut, no knots are made, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>when the stone is removed the loop falls out and leaves +the line as before its attachment. Large powerful fish +should never be lifted into the boat by the tackle. A +wide, short-handled landing-net, and <i>gaff</i>, made from a +large-sized fish-hook, lashed to a staff, form an essential +part of the equipment.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p013_1" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p013_01.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p013_2" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p013_02.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The owners of yachts, and families residing near the +sea, will find a few crab-pots, which can be made at a +very trifling cost, a valuable acquisition, as not only +crabs, but lobsters, cray-fish, and prawns are readily +taken in them. Sea fishing-tackle will be found very +useful, as after having baited and laid down the <i>pots</i> a +number of fish may be very often caught. These will +be found acceptable as an addition to the daily bill of +fare, and such as are of inferior quality make excellent +crab-bait. It is not our intention to enter at any +length on a description of sea-fishing gear; still there +are certain hints and expedients relating to it which +may not prove unacceptable to the reader. Lines vary +much in substance and length with the description of +fish it is intended to capture, cod, conger eels, hake, +&c., requiring them of considerable strength and power; +but it will be found, as a rule, that the lines used by +the regular fishermen of our coasts are much stouter +than is necessary, and it may be depended on that the +finer the tackle is, consistent with the requisite strength +to hold the fish when hooked, the more successful will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>be the result of its use. It is very seldom indeed that +a <i>line</i> is broken by a fish, unless from some flaw +or imperfection, the trace on which the hook is tied +being far more frequently the point of breakage. +Strong silk-worm gut, either single or twisted, is much +to be preferred to the hemp snoodings in common use +for all traces but those used in the taking of the very +largest descriptions of sea-fish. The <i>round plait</i> prepared +salmon line, sold by all fishing-tackle makers, +answers admirably for a general sea-line. The length +may be proportioned to the depth of the water it is +intended to fish, but about thirty yards is a convenient +quantity to deal with. This should, for hand-line +fishing, be kept wound on a <i>frame reel</i>. One of these +is easily made as follows:—Two flat pieces of tough +strong wood, such as oak or ash, about a foot long, an +inch and a half wide, and a quarter of an inch thick, +are to be prepared; at each end of these, at about two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>inches from the extremity, a round hole is to be either +bored, or burnt with a hot iron. Two round wooden +bars of about ten inches in length, and the size of an +ordinary walking-stick, are now to be prepared, cutting +each end to fit the holes in the flat bars, so that they +may pass through them, and extend about two inches +beyond. A shoulder must be cut in each joint, in order +to prevent the bars from coming together; when put in +place they are secured with small pins or brads; but, +before fixing them, a round flat piece of cork is to be +run on each round bar to stick the points of the hooks +in; the cut on p. 15 shows the shape of the framework +and the reel complete. Reels of this description +are much to be preferred to the common kind, on +account of the free ventilation they afford the lines +when wound on them, and the freedom from entanglements +insured by the cork hook-holders. The traces +before referred to may be used of either single, double, +or triple strands. All gut before being knotted together +should be steeped for ten minutes or a quarter of an +hour in <i>warm</i>, not hot, water; the curled portions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>and ends are to be cut off, and the required number +of lengths selected as to stoutness. They can now be +attached to each other by the use of the gut knot, as +shown in the preceding cut. This, when drawn home +and the ends trimmed off, forms a very secure fastening. +To make a double or triple gut trace it will be necessary +to twist the strands constituting it. This can be +readily done by knotting the extreme ends together +and then placing them between the back spring and +blade of a common pocket-knife, as shown in the +annexed cut. The other ends are now taken by two +or three persons, according to +the number of strands to be +twisted, held between the finger +and thumb, and turned until a +spinning motion is communicated +to the knife hanging in +the middle, when the trace is +very quickly finished,—six +feet is a good length for general +purposes. All hook-lengths +and traces should be attached +to the main line by brass swivels. A short, stiff rod, +with stand-up rings, fitted with a large-sized Nottingham +reel, on which fifty or sixty yards of prepared line +has been wound, will be found useful for taking many +kinds of fish, and an extra joint or two adapts it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>for fishing from rocks or pier heads. When using +tackle of this description from a boat for the capture +of <i>small fish</i>, as pouting, chads, whiting, &c. are commonly +called, it will be found a good plan to employ a +foot trace of twisted gut, medium-sized trout-hooks +tied on strong single gut snoods; these may be looped +on at eighteen inches apart. The bottom of the trace +must be secured to one of the conical sinkers of +sufficient weight to keep the line straight down against +the run of the tide. Bait with <i>rag-worm</i>, and commence +fishing at about three feet from the bottom, +when, if the fish are not found feeding there, shallow +depths may be tried, or the ground itself just touched +with the lead, only taking care that a sufficient strain +exists just to slightly curve the top of the rod; on +feeling a bite, strike sharply, and when the fish is found +to be hooked, draw the line in with the right hand, +whilst the rod is upraised in the left, until the prize is +at the surface, when, unless very diminutive indeed, +the landing-net should be made use of,—more fish are +lost in weighing out than in any other way. Large +captives must be played until sufficiently passive to be +safely brought alongside and netted or gaffed.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p015" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p015.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p016" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p016.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp40" id="i_p017" style="max-width: 12em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p017.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Rod-fishing for mackerel bass, grey mullet, “<i>Atherene</i>” +or sand smelt, and several other descriptions, may, at +times, be practised with considerable success. We +have taken great numbers of the two former with both +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>bait and artificial fly. Mackerel fishing with the float-line +affords, at certain seasons, excellent sport. A +large cork float, four-foot trace of single salmon gut, +and one medium-sized Limerick trout-hook should be +used; three or four duck-shot will be found, with the +swivel, sufficient to keep the trace straight. Bait with +either pilchard gut, a strip cut from the tail of a +freshly-caught mackerel, or a long narrow ribbon of +cuttle; cap the float to about fourteen feet from the +hook and let the bait drift off with the tide. We have +repeatedly taken numbers of mackerel in this way +when hand-lines of the usual pattern were not visited +by a single fish. For grey mullet, live shrimps or pieces +of rag-worm will be found the best baits. Smelts are +taken by mounting a number of very small hooks, +No. 12 Kirby bend, on short pieces of very stiff gut +looped on to the main traces, at about six inches apart; +a light sinker should be made use of, and short junks +of rag-worm used as bait. Smelts much frequent +localities where fresh water flows into the sea. Lead +sinkers, of any weight between seven or eight pounds +and that of a buck-shot, can be cast between two +common Bath scouring bricks. Half the form of the +intended sinker is cut on each brick (after the surfaces +have been rendered smooth by rubbing them together) +with a common knife or chisel. The two halves, when +exactly matched, are tied together with tape and a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>small inlet hole made, through which the molten lead +is poured from an iron ladle, tobacco-pipe, or iron +spoon; according to the quantity of metal required: +one brick is sufficient to cast simple forms in, +merely cutting out the shape and filling it up. All +sorts of articles in lead can be made in this way, +without any of the dangers which usually attend +casting in clay or damp mould. The two kinds of +fishing leads represented in the above cut can be +used for a great number of purposes, and are mounted +either single or double, as the strength of the under +current or run of the tide may render necessary, by +passing a few turns of fine packthread or spare +snooding through the holes at <span class="allsmcap">B</span>, and bringing the flat +surfaces of the leads in contact. A great number of +bass, codlings and other fish are, in many localities, to +be taken by laying out lines baited with whelk, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>hermit-crab, &c., to meet the coming tide as it flows +in over beaches or sand flats. A heavy lead is often +used as a means by which the line and baits are not +only kept at the bottom when they reach it, but is +turned after the manner of a sling round the head of +the fisherman, and then cast far out in the surf, to be +withdrawn and again thrown as the take of fish or renewal +of bait may render necessary. There are many +very great inconveniences attendant on this mode of +fishing, and it is far better to lay down a <i>traveller</i> when +the tide is out. This is done as follows:—Just before +the turn of the tide and the coming in of the young +flood, select the spot at which you intend trying your +fortunes, and then search out a large heavy stone as +your <i>traveller block</i>, and thus prepare it, with strong +twine or whipcord; take two or three turns round the +stone and securely fasten off with a knot; then attach +a common curtain ring or the link of an old chain. +Lay your <i>block</i> on the edge of the water, pass one +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>end of your fishing-line through the ring, and walk +back with it some distance up the beach, allowing the +other end to be given off the reel until the spot at +which the first end was dropped is reached. The line +will now be doubled; one half has hooks on short +traces, as many as it is thought expedient to use, +mounted on it. The other half is free from hooks, in +order that it may run through the ring without entanglement. +A small piece of stick is knotted on the line +close to the first hook, so that it cannot be pulled through +the ring, as shown in the illustration on p. 21.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p020" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p020.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p021" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p021.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The arrangement is now complete and ready for +baiting. It will be seen that as one line is drawn in, +the other travels out towards the block, so that as the +fish are hooked they are brought to land, the hooks are +fresh baited, and the contrivance hauled out again +without the trouble of throwing the lead. As the tide +comes the fisherman walks back until he reaches high-water +mark.</p> + +<p>On some of our coasts a great number of Crabs are +taken with the <i>crab-hook</i>. This is a sharp strong +hook of tough iron, fastened to the end of a stout +wooden staff, or pole, and the best time to use it +is when the sea recedes during spring tides, and +makes what among fishermen, is called a “<i>great out</i>.” +At such times a great number of deep rock pools and +hollow ledges become accessible, which during ordinary +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>tides are far beneath the waves, and now is the harvest +of the adventurous crab-hunter, who, hook in hand, +climbs and scrambles among the slippery stones and +weed-covered crags, to where narrow cleft and dark +recess give promise of Crab’s lurking-places, when with +a cautious probing motion, the curved instrument is +thrust onward along the hidden galleries beneath the +rock, until the practised hand detects the hoped-for impediment, +when with one sudden, dexterous, backward +stroke of his weapon he withdraws the retiring Cancer +from his snug retreat, and exposes him to the garish +light of day. Give him but one instant for reflection, +and up goes his back against the roof of his hole, when, +except by literally pulling him in pieces, extraction +is a sheer impossibility; and it is in consequence of this +exceedingly unaccommodating habit of his, that would-be +crab-catchers have been at times crab caught, and +their incautious groping hands held fast as though in +the vice of some sea Vulcan, until the flowing tide has +put an end to both their struggles and sufferings. The +tenacity of a crab’s grip is perfectly extraordinary and +all but incredible. A hold once taken is seldom let go, +and the battles which frequently take place among +these pugnacious gentry give ample scope for the exercise +of their tremendous nippers; and nature has most +wisely provided them with the power of throwing off +such limbs as may be either seized by the enemy or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>seriously injured; and should they chance to encounter +an antagonist from whom it appears wise to beat a +retreat, our friend firmly seizes him by the most tender +spot he can select, sets his pincers nipping and grinding +in the most excruciating manner, and then rapidly +detaching and leaving them in possession, darts off to +the first sanctuary within his reach. To most living +creatures the unceremonious sacrifice of limbs in this +way would lead to almost immediate loss of life from +hemorrhage, but a wise provision is also made for this +contingency. The division taking place at a constricted +portion of the joint of a limb admits of the +vessels drawing themselves in, and so stopping the +flow of blood. A thin membrane soon covers the +stump, and in due time another limb replaces that which +has been lost or cast away. In some localities the +haunts of the Crab are discovered by fastening pieces +of waste fish to the ends of short, strong lines, and +then, after attaching long stones by their middles to the +other ends, strewing them about among the rocks and +pools; at the ebbing of the tide, these tell-tale stones are +sought for as they rest outside and across the dwelling-places +of the Crabs, which when found are not only +“made a note of,” but the tenants either by hook or +crook brought to light with little ceremony.</p> + +<p>Some little judgment is required to select a thoroughly +good Crab for the table, and as the choice usually lays +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>amongst dead specimens, a few hints on the subject +will not perhaps prove unacceptable. A male Crab is +generally to be preferred to a female, on account of the +larger development of claw, &c. The sexes may +readily be distinguished by examining the flat, peak-shaped, +flap-like tail, which will be found curled beneath +the under-surfaces of the body. This in the +male is narrow, whilst in the female it is wide and of +different form. A good Crab should feel heavy in the +hand, and on being sharply shaken no sound or movement +of fluid heard. The large nippers should at +the same time remain tucked tightly up, and not +hang loosely from the body. The absence of freshness +is a defect too obvious and important to need +comment.</p> + +<p>The proper mode of boiling Crabs has long been a +subject on which <i>doctors have disagreed</i>. Who then +shall decide? That there is cruelty associated with the +taking away of life, it would be hard to deny, but the +correctness of choice between gradual stewing in slowly-heating +water, and being plunged at once into the +seething, bubbling cauldron, requires “<i>the revelations +of a boiled crab</i>” to clear up; and until a crustacean +production under that or a like title appears, we shall +continue to plunge our armour-clad victims in water at +212 degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, and leave the +question as to the propriety of our so doing to those +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>who are disposed to grapple with the subject for its +own sake.</p> + +<p>The change of colour which takes place in many of +the crustacea during the process of boiling, has long +been a subject of remark. The common and edible +Crabs of this country have their tints far less affected +than the lobster, the peculiarly rich blue shade of +whose shell when in a living state is too well known +to need any lengthened description; this, as is well +known, changes to a bright red in the cooking-pot, and +the uniform of the <i>police</i> is exchanged for that of the +<i>line regiments</i>. This strange metamorphosis, researches +have shown to be entirely dependent on chemical laws. +The pigment on which the blue shading and tint depend, +is a peculiar fat-like substance, which possesses +the singular property of becoming scarlet when subjected +to 70 degrees of heat shown in the <i>centigrade</i> +thermometer. A colouring matter of very similar +properties was some time since discovered in the beaks +and legs of certain birds.</p> + +<p>The lobster pigment is soluble in spirits of wine, by +which agent it can be extracted from the shell; but the +colour changes at once from blue to red. And on adding +either nitric or sulphuric acid, the charged spirit is +changed to a green of a remarkably <i>fast</i> or permanent +character. Who shall say, as fresh discoveries are +made and new solvents brought to light, that lobster +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>shells may not become more valuable than the appetising +fish they once contained! We see no reason +why the dormant sprite, who lies hid in the coat of +sea mail, should not be roused from his long sleep and +set to work with the other kobolds who do the will of +the mighty magician <i>chemistry</i>; and little dreams the +fascinating belle, who has been made “<i>beautiful for ever</i>,” +how much those same kobolds have had to do with +the process. <i>Bismuth</i>, from the deep-mine cavern, gives +to the skin the pearly white so much prized: the +cochineal bug, from the prickly cactus thickets, the +roseate hue (“<i>The Turkish Bloom of Health</i>”) which is +said, in the flowery language of the advertisers, to impart +to the cheek the attractive lustre of the ripe peach. +The elegant <i>mauve</i> dress, ribbons, and gloves, are “tinctured” +by a toiling imp residing in <i>gas tar</i>. “<i>Lovely +things</i>” in green too are industriously turned out by two +quaint, but rather dangerous and mischievously disposed +gentlemen of the elfish crew, Messrs. Arsenic +and Copper, who work in partnership, and whose attractive +joint productions some time since poisoned a +number of the sea-green nymphs of a Parisian ballet. +How far more appropriate and safe would it have been +to draw from the rich stores of king Neptune the +materials with which to dye the drapery of the stage +mermaid and seaside beauty, and we hope ere long to see +“<i>the new lobster-shell green</i>,” under some tremendously +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>sonorous Greek name (without which success would be +doubtful), “<i>the fashionable colour</i>.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p028" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p028.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The juvenile members of most of our seaside communities +are much given to crab-fishing, and may be +seen from early morn to evening late, dangling their +legs over some convenient rock, sea-wall, or landing-steps, +and with a piece of twine to which a dainty +morsel of fish offal has been tied, doing their best to +induce some greedy young crabling to grasp it with his +nippers, when, with a sudden jerk and triumphant +shout, the deluded victim is pitched out high and dry +before he knows what he is about, and is then tied by +the leg and led about like a lilliputian pig, who +strongly objects to either going to market or staying at +home. Fortunately for him he is not very good to eat, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>or as a rule very large; still his captors, when they do +secure him of even ordinary dimensions, treat him to a +pot of boiling water, and let him go cheap. This +description of crustacean is known as the Harbour or +Shore Crab (<i>Carcinus maenas</i>), and is represented in +the preceding cut. He is a weed of almost every soil, +and a perfect pest to those who fish in estuaries +and tidal rivers, nibbling off the bait in a manner +past all endurance, and when the watchful angler, +anticipating the presence of a plump and silvery fish +at the end of the line, raises his fishing-rod aloft, +there hangs instead, a green, mud-coloured little +imp, clawing the air like an enraged spider, making +himself in fact in every way obnoxious and disagreeable.</p> + +<p>Then there are other members of the same amiable +race, with whom he who fishes the sea with nets will +not be long before he makes acquaintance. These are +the <i>swimming Crabs</i>, of which there are numerous +species. These differ materially from the kinds we +have described, in habits, appearance, and structure. +By the use of their powerful oar-like legs they are +enabled to propel themselves through the water with +great rapidity and precision, and by darting among the +meshes of the fishing-nets they become so hopelessly +entangled, that a “<i>Fiddler Crab</i>” (as it is sometimes +called from the rapidity with which it works its elbows) +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>in a <i>trammel net</i>, is often used by fishermen as a standard +with which to compare cases of the most utter bewilderment. +The annexed cut represents one of these, +the Velvet Swimming Crab (<i>Portunus puber</i>).</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p030" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p030.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The still, deep, lagunes, within the coral reefs, in the +southern and eastern seas, contain creatures of this +class most exquisite in form and colour, and we have +often looked down into some clear, well-like gulf between +the branching coralines, clustering sponges, and +actinea of countless hues, and watched the marvellous +episodes of deep-sea life there passing beneath; fringes +of crystal arms, disc-like mouths, and far-stretching +tendril-shaped legs, wave from every point and ledge, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>whilst crustaceans, as of animated enamel work, accompanied +by fish, like living gems, troop restlessly in +and out and to and fro, in an endless throng.</p> + +<p><i>Anthozoa</i>, those living, ocean blossoms, spread their +petals of a thousand hues, whilst the family of <i>Medusidæ</i> +float like shadows through the tranquil depths.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Now it is pleasant in the summer eve,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When a broad shore retiring waters leave,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Awhile to wait upon the firm fair sand,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When all is calm at sea, all still at land;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And there the ocean’s produce to explore.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As floating by, or rolling on the shore</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Those living jellies which the flesh inflame,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fierce as a nettle, and from that their name:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Some in huge masses, some that you may bring</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the small compass of a lady’s ring:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Figured by Hand Divine—there’s not a gem</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wrought by man’s art to be compared to them;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Soft, brilliant, tender, through the wave they glow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And make the moonbeams brighter where they flow.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Involved in sea-wrack, here you find a race,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which science doubting, knows not where to place.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On shell or stone is dropped the embryo seed,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And quickly vegetates a vital breed;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">While thus with pleasing wonder you inspect</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Treasures the vulgar in their scorn reject.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">See as they float along th’ entangled weeds,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Slowly approach, upborne on bladdery beads.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wait till they land, and you shall then behold</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The fiery sparks those tangled fronds infold</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Myriads of living points; the unaided eye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Can but the fire and not the form descry.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And now your view upon the ocean turn,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And there the splendour of the waves discern:</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Cast but a stone, or strike them with an oar,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And you shall flames within the deep explore;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or scoop the stream phosphoric as you stand,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the cold flames shall flash along your hand.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When lost in wonder, you shall walk and gaze</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On weeds that sparkle, and on waves that blaze.”</div> + </div> + + +<p class="right"> + <span class="smcap">Crabbe.</span> +</p> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Spider Crabs are there, too, both here and in the +seas, washing our own island, with limbs so long and +attenuated, and bodies so small, that they look more +like overgrown <span class="allsmcap">DADDY LONGLEGS</span> going through a +course of sea-bathing than aught else, and we almost +begin to think they must be marine spiders after all, +and wonder where the sea-flies are, and what sort of +webs they would spin to catch them in. The Indian +seas have inhabitants of the serpent order, which are +by no means safe to meddle with. They, too, desport +after their own manner:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Beyond the shadow of the ship</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I watched the water snakes;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They moved in tracks of shining white,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And when they reared, the elfish light</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fell off in hoary flakes.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Within the shadow of the ship</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I watched their rich attire,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They coiled and swam; and every track</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Was a flash of golden fire.”</div> + </div> + + +<p class="right"> + “<i>Ancient Mariner.</i>” +</p> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p> + +<p>The subject of the annexed illustration is the common +slender Spider Crab (<i>Stenorynchus tenuirostris</i>), +frequently captured on our own coast. Some of these +queer gentry, near relatives of his, are as prickly as +a chestnut husk, and have claws like crooked tobacco-pipe +stems. No cook even in the last stage of insanity +could hope to utilize them.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p033" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p033.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Then we have the soft-tailed, <i>Soldier</i>, or <i>Hermit +Crabs</i>, who, because they are insufficiently clad by +nature, seize on the first convenient shell they can +discover, and then, by adroitly introducing the point +of the tail, slip into it, much as a skilful stage demon +vanishes through a <i>vampire trap</i>. Vacant shells are +not always selected as mansions; those with inhabitants +are not unfrequently taken possession of, when a +process of forcible ejectment is had recourse to, and +the hapless mollusc is soon gobbled up, and his house +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>occupied by the spoiler. <i>Pagurus Bernhardus</i>, the +subject of the annexed illustration, is no doubt familiar +to many of our readers, as most of the little salt-water +ponds amongst the rocks and stones have one or more +of these tiny hermitages in them. Whelk-shells are +very commonly found inhabited by the pagurus we are +describing, and large numbers, under the name of <i>Crab +Whelks</i>, are collected, and used as bait, after the shell +and hard structures have been removed by breaking +them off with a hammer.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p034" style="max-width: 20em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p034.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p><i>Pea Crabs</i> there are also, living at free quarters in +houses not their own; but of these we shall have +more to say further on. The Hermits we find on our +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>coasts are perfect pigmies when compared with some of +the species found in and about the tropic seas, who, +dwelling in the huge helmet-like shells with which +these warm regions abound, spend almost as much of +their lives out of the sea as in it, consume large quantities +of vegetable matter, and appear capable of supporting +life for some time without absolutely going +into the water.</p> + +<p>Tenantless mollusc shells are not the only dwelling +places of the Hermits, and other species of Crabs, +and they have, from periods of remote antiquity to our +own day, been found in situations in which they apparently +have no reasonable right to be. This has given +rise to much learned disputation, and not a few wild +theories and quaint conceits.</p> + +<p>That matchless piece of nature’s handiwork, the Philippine +Island sponge (see next page)—Venus’s Flower +Basket, or <i>Euplectella speciosa</i>, of naturalists—which +has recently attracted so much attention in the British +Museum and among the scientific world, was, about a +year since, accidentally hauled up from the bottom of +the sea, entangled on a fish-hook, by a native who was +fishing for rock cod off the Island of Zebu, one of the +Philippine group. Since the first discovery, numerous +specimens have been obtained in the same locality, and +from 30<i>l.</i> (the price paid for the fisherman’s prize) the +value has progressively become less. Still purchasers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>are numerous enough to make flower-basket hunting +a remunerative occupation for some time to come. It +is perfectly impossible, even with the aid of pictorial +illustration, to give an adequate idea of the elegance +and beauty of this extraordinary production. Of cornucopiæ +form, and of the finest Brussels lace texture, it +stands like a network vase among a tuft of crystal +threads. The cover, like that of some antique flagon, +crowns the top, and completes the strange resemblance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>to man’s most skilled and perfect productions. Venus +herself might well be proud of such a flower-basket; +but like many other things of beauty, there are mysteries +round their growth and formation. One of these, +is the almost invariable presence of the remains of +one or more Crabs in the interior of this, to them, +crystal prison, out of which escape is just as impossible +as from a capsuled bottle. Many differences of +opinion exist as to the mode by which the Crabs first +obtained an entrance; there appears, however, little +doubt that this is effected whilst the sponge is in an +immature condition, and before the cover is woven. +There is a young specimen which we have examined +in the British Museum in this incomplete state, and +it is questionable whether the basket-like tube is ever +covered until it has reached maturity; when, although +the sponge appears to cease growing in an upward +direction, the power possessed by it to secrete the +silicious matter of which the network is composed +remains unimpaired, and, like a skilful artisan as he is, +he at once repairs neatly such injuries as his crystal +palace may sustain.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p036" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p036.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Dr. Gray has in his possession a specimen in which +a repair of this kind has been effected. A hole appears +to have been broken by some accident in one of the +sides about half-way between the point of attachment +and the cover. A new network of fibres in bunches +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>has been substituted for the broken ones—of form +much like the original structure. The peculiar curved +or <i>cornucopia</i> shape before referred to, and usually, +although not invariably, assumed by these baskets, has +also given rise to much speculation amongst the +scientific. Dr. Gray gives it as his opinion that the +weight of the Crab when crawling through the interior +of the tube, may influence the direction in which the +basket is found to incline. He says: “As the Crab +becomes imprisoned in the cavity, it will be constantly +walking up and down the tube to procure food, and +by so doing will, most likely, bend the tube on one +side, so that the free end of the tube may become bent +down nearly to the level of the base;” and it remains +an open question whether this is the true solution of +the enigma, or, like the goblet forms of some species +of sponges, and the rounded contour of others, the +cornucopia form of growth may not, after all, be that +common to <i>E. speciosa</i>.</p> + +<p>It appears to be the prevailing opinion amongst the +fishermen by whom the Euplectella is taken, and by +whom it is known as the <i>Rigederos</i>, “that it is the +work of two insects (meaning probably the Crabs +found in the tubes) at the bottom of the sea.” A +French correspondent in writing recently to the authorities +of the British Museum, expresses his opinion +that the Euplectella is the work of the Crabs. There +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>are very grave reasons, however, why this opinion +should be received with the greatest caution, if not +absolute doubt. In the first place, we know of no +crustacean possessing a like power of silicious secretion +and construction. Then the Crabs which are found +inclosed are not always of the same species, or even +genera. Dr. Gray is of opinion that one which he +examined through the meshes was a <i>Pagurus</i>, and of +habits identical with those which we have already +described. Crabs with such investigating and intrusive +instincts as these, would not fail to explore the +inmost recesses of a hollow tube of such a tempting +appearance as the young, growing, and coverless Euplectella +would present; and what more probable +than that, as the tube became perfected and the lid +partly made, the Crab or Crabs might still continue +to inhabit it, until the orifice being at last closed up, +and escape impossible, our friend remained a prisoner +for life. His cast-off shells, like old worn-out garments, +would remain sealed up securely with him, and give +the idea that many Crabs had there resided.</p> + +<p>The ancients, although totally ignorant of the +existence of the beautiful lace-work basket we have +described, and the creatures dwelling within them, were +nevertheless perfectly aware of the presence of small +Crabs in the shells of the great silk-yielding mussel +(<i>Pinna nobilis</i>), who, because he had no visual organs +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>himself, was supposed to need the services of a vigilant +submarine watchman, sharp of ear and keen of eye—a +sort of <i>concierge</i>, in fact—to attend to the door and +keep out all unwelcome visitors.</p> + +<p>The researches of Lamarck go to show that the +ancient writers were generally of opinion that these +Crabs were especially employed as general guardians +and inseparable companions to the Pinna, that they +had one common birth, and that the one could not +exist without the other,—the absence of vision in the +Pinna being compensated for by the vigilance of the +Crab, whilst in matters requiring power and resistance, +<i>Cancer</i> had only to give the required sign by a gentle +nip, when his partner, with the strength of a sea-giant, +shut his shell-trap-door on all the inquisitive, intrusive +little fish within the fatal portal, when the firm of +<i>Pinna</i> and <i>Crab</i> made remarkably short reckonings +with them. We read that in 1749, Hasselquist, the +distinguished naturalist, undertook a voyage to the +Levant, and corresponded with Linnæus during his +travels. In one of his communications he thus writes +from Smyrna:—“Amongst others they sell here a +<i>sepia</i>, or cuttle-fish, which by them is called Οκτωποδια. +It has only eight tentacles all of equal length. The +whole animal is a foot long, and thick in proportion. +Of this the Greeks have related an anecdote which +I think remarkable. The <i>Pinna muricata</i>, or great +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>silk mussel, is here found in the bottom of the sea in +large quantities, and is a foot long. The cuttle-fish +watches the opportunity when the mussel opens her +shell to creep in and devour her; but a little Crab +which has scarcely any shell, or has at least only a +very thin one, lodges constantly in this shell-fish. +She pays a good rent by saving the life of her landlady, +for she keeps a constant look-out through the +aperture of the shell, and on seeing the enemy approach +she begins to stir, when the πινα (for so the Greeks +call the shell-fish) shuts up her house, and the rapacious +animal is excluded. I saw this shell-fish first +at the Island of Milo, and found such a little Crab in +all I opened. I wondered not a little what was her +business there; but when I came here, I was first +informed of it by the Secretary of our Consul, M. +Justi, a curious and ingenious man, who has travelled +much, and lived long in this place. This was afterwards +confirmed by several Greeks who daily catch +and eat both these animals.”</p> + +<p>The common Pea Crab (<i>Pinnotheres pisum</i>), represented +in the annexed cut, and of enlarged scale, is an +inhabitant of our own coasts, and frequently found +residing within the shell of the common edible mussel, +(<i>Mytilus edulis</i>); but it is very remarkable that the +female Crabs are very much more numerous than the +males, and that although the male Crab may be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>at times captured at a distance from his strange +lodging, we know of no instance of a female being +taken in any situation but within the shell of some +mollusc. Aristotle speaks of this small mail-clad +janitor as a little fish with claws, like those of a Crab, +which keeps guard and ward for the <i>Pinna</i>, grows +to her mouth, and acts as her caterer. Pliny too +remarked and described the apparently anomalous +association. He speaks of the Pinna as a shell-fish +that is found in muddy waters, always erect, and never +without a companion of the Crab kind. Oppiannus +not only knew that Crabs existed commonly in the +Pinna shells, but clearly conceived that it was their +duty and mission to do so. Thus he writes:—</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p042" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p042.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The Pinna and the Crab together dwell</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For mutual succour in one common shell;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">They both to gain a livelihood combine,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>That</i> takes the prey when <i>this</i> has given the sign.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">From hence this Crab above his fellows famed</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By ancient Greeks was <i>Pinnatores</i> named.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p043" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p043.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The accompanying illustration, on a very enlarged +scale, represents the pinna’s companion, <i>Pinnotheres +veterum</i>, which will be seen at a glance to differ materially +in appearance from <i>P. pisum</i>. The mussel is not +the only shell in which <i>P. pisum</i> finds ready-furnished +lodgings. The common cockle (<i>Cardium edule</i>), and in +some instances the ordinary oyster, being selected to +supply them. Mr. W. Thompson, in writing on the +crustaceans of Ireland, says, “The smallest Pinnotheres +I have seen was found by Mr. Hyndman, in a +living <i>Cardium exignum</i>, dredged up by us in Strangford +Lough, in October, 1834. It is a male. The carapace +is under a line in length; the entire breadth of the +Crab from the extremities of the outstretched legs is +three lines. The cardium is under three lines in +length, and barely exceeds that admeasurement in +breadth; so that the Crab, when in the position just +mentioned, must have on both sides touched the walls +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>of his chosen prison. The <i>Pinnotheres</i> likewise inhabits +the <i>Cardium edule</i>. Before me is one of these +Crabs, of which the carapace is two lines in breadth, +obtained by Mr. Hyndman in a full-grown <i>C. edule</i> +from Strangford Lough; but from the Sligo coast where +this Crab attains an extraordinary large size, a Crab with +a carapace four lines in breadth, and with outstretched +legs seven lines across, was once kindly brought to me +by Lord Enniskillen. Mr. R. Ball informs me that on +two occasions he obtained a great number of the Pinnotheres, +and which were all males, from the <i>Cardium +edule</i>, when at Youghal. About nine out of every ten +cockles contained a Crab. On opening oysters at +Tenby in Wales he has procured the Pinnotheres. This +Crab, like the <i>Pagurus</i>, occupies different species of +shells according to its size, and at every age, and generally +selects such as with outstretched legs it would fill +from side to side.”</p> + +<p>Another extraordinary instance of anomalous association +is to be found in the habits of the <i>Pagurus prideauxii</i>, +which is invariably found with the cloak Anemone +(<i>Adamsia palliata</i>) adhering to it, and so strong are the +mysterious bonds of relationship, friendship, or whatever +it may be called, which bind them together, that on the +Pagurus finding it requisite to increase the size of his +borrowed mansion, the Anemone, like a chosen companion +as he is, follows to the new home, being deftly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>held by the nippers of the fresh inhabitant until enabled +to obtain a firm hold just outside the portal, where it +remains until some other removal is made, or more +commodious quarters required. From these sociable +house-hunting adventurers we pass on to the burrowing +Crabs, of which there are many kinds, indulging in +habits most curious and noteworthy. Perhaps the +most remarkable of these, is the great Cocoa-nut +Eating Crab, or “<i>Ou-Ou</i>,” as it is called by the natives +of some of the localities in which it is met with. It +is the <i>Birgus latro</i> of naturalists, and is well represented, +although on a very reduced scale in the illustration +next page. It is found in many of the Coral +Islands dotting the Indian seas and Pacific ocean, and +beneath the rustling, waving, cocoa-nut groves, which +abound within the torid zone. The <i>Ou-Ou</i> forms for himself +a home, delving and burrowing, miner-like, beneath +the wide-spreading roots of the tropic trees, and excavating +deep and cunningly-formed galleries and chambers +in the coral sand and broken shells; and one is almost +disposed to think that the following lines by Thomson +must have been penned in all the fervour of a +poet’s admiration for the happy lot of our friend of +subterranean proclivities:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Sheltered amid the orchards of the sun,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Where high palmettos lift their graceful shade,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Give me to drain the cocoa’s milky bowl,</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> <div class="verse indent0">And from the palm to drain its fresh’ning wine,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">More bounteous far than all the frantic juice</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which Bacchus pours.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p046" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p046.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Here, like a feudal baron of old, he forms for himself +a stronghold, sallying forth like a freebooter, to feast +on the spoils of the grove. Curious stories are related of +these marauders, and it has been gravely asserted that +they have been known to ascend the tall stalks of the +cocoa palms for the purpose of detaching and throwing +down the nuts. We are not prepared to say that particular +palms (when in a more than ordinarily sloping +posture) may not been have climbed in the manner stated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>by certain species. Our own experience, however, +strongly disposes us to think that such nuts as from time +to time fall to the ground from ordinary causes, constitute +the prizes commonly appropriated by <i>B. latro</i>. +His enormously powerful and ponderous nippers enable +him to husk and rend these from their tenacious coatings +with surprising speed and facility; and it is only +necessary to examine the cocoa-nut husks with the +nuts within them, as imported from abroad, to be convinced +that our nut-eating friend must be a veritable +crustacean Hercules, to be capable of such feats of +strength, as the dragging forth of the treasures from +their dense fibrous envelopes unquestionably are; and +a Hercules he is in his own way, for the tenacious +wire-like network of cocoa fibre in which the nut is +inclosed, is torn, split, and rent asunder, as though +with the iron pincers of a brawny blacksmith, until +the coveted dainty is set free. One end of every +common cocoa-nut has, as most of our readers are +aware, three holes in it; these, from their position +and quaint resemblance to the face of a living creature, +are called the monkey’s face. One of these holes is +selected as a point of attack, and a succession of +adroitly-delivered and heavy raps are rapidly given +with the large claw. An opening, or breach, is thus +very quickly effected. The narrow pair of nippers now +come into operation, and by dexterously inserting them, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>the whole of the white, sweet, oleaginous contents are +deftly scooped and clawed out. <i>B. latro</i> has a keen eye +to future wants as well as to present enjoyment; he is +not only a gourmand, but pretty much of a utilitarian; +so he employs his sharp, powerful claws in carding and +combing up the bundles of tangled coir, remaining after +his husk-splitting operation. This, by dint of much +clawing to and fro, at length becomes almost as fine as +tow, or the oakum used by shipwrights. When sufficiently +manipulated, he gathers together the result of his +labours, and transports it to the inmost recesses of his +subterranean stronghold beneath the roots; a bed is +here made from it, on which our friend reclines; and it +helps to form a convenient covering and protection for +him when debarred from the pleasures and delights of +Crab society during the uncomfortable process of shell-changing. +The crafty human inhabitants of these wave-washed +isles, are too well versed in the habits of our +friend, and too well aware of his provident habits, not +to avail themselves of the stores of well-preserved fibre +thus laid up; advantage is therefore taken of the buried +store, which is unceremoniously dragged forth, collected +together, and made use of for caulking the seams +of their canoes, and many other useful purposes. +During the period of comparative torpidity usually +accompanying the shell-shifting process, the wants of +nature are wonderfully and wisely provided for. These +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>strange creatures are each furnished with a species of +natural magazine, containing fatty matter, which they +carry beneath their tails. Some Crabs of large size +have been known to yield enough to produce a quart +of oil, limpid, of excellent quality, and highly esteemed +by the natives. <i>B. latro</i> is much given to nocturnal +rambling, and frequent visits are by him paid to localities +within the cheering influences of the salt-sea wave; +but we do not agree with those writers who have accused +him of nightly hydropathic journeys. During the breeding +season some considerable time is spent by the +whole family in exploring the countless rock-pools and +lagunes between the coral reefs. Here, after the departure +of the parents for their homes amongst the +roots, the juvenile crabs continue to desport themselves, +until grown strong enough to attack the nuts on their +own account, when they proceed to join their seniors in +the family diggings. The natives, when they set their +minds on a Crab-hunting expedition, provide themselves +with much the same kind of equipment as a +party of English gamekeepers would use when about to +extract a secretive badger from his burrow. Digging, +and that of the most determined and energetic description, +is the favourite method of bringing the game to +light, which desirable consummation is rarely arrived at +until a very large amount of loud shouting and needless +leaping about has been had recourse to. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>unfortunate Crabs are very good to eat, and they appear +thoroughly aware of it, making use of every effort +in their power to avoid capture. They are, nevertheless, +ruthlessly overtaken in the subterranean race, +dragged forth into the broad sunlight, ignominiously +bound with cords twisted from the tough fibre of the +cocoa husk (a very requisite precaution by the bye), +and lugged off into hopeless captivity.</p> + +<p>Some of these nut-feeders grow to a monstrous size +(some being over two feet long), are armed with nippers +of most formidable dimensions, and make no more of +snapping the strong cord, with which the Crab-catchers +endeavour to secure them, than if they were as many +strands of packthread. At certain seasons of the +year a vegetable diet appears to become unpalatable to +our friend. He then seeks a change, and levies open +and indiscriminate warfare on all the tribe of shell-bearing +molluscs he can lay his thievish claws on, not +giving even the ghost of a chance of escape. He +seizes them forcibly with his nippers, and then extracts +them from their snug shell-castles, with a dexterity +which an accomplished London shell-fish dealer might +look on with envy; and then, not content with devouring +the ill-fated tenant, he performs a sort of grotesque +defiant, and triumphal march, with the vacant shell +raised like a standard, aloft in his claws, as if for the +express purpose of inciting other Crabs more peaceably +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>disposed and less nefarious in their habits, to the perpetration +of outrages of a similar character. Take him +for all in all, <i>B. latro</i> may be considered anything but a +well-conducted member of the family to which he +belongs. His name denotes the character which he +has fully earned and universally maintains.</p> + +<p>The countless thousands of islands, reefs, and spots +of newly-formed land dotting the South Seas and +Indian Ocean, are ever on the increase. The foundations +of these are firmly laid at the sea’s bottom by +legions of that tiny toiler of the deep, the coral insect, +and year by year, and age by age, his ceaseless labours +progress upward and ever upward towards the light +of heaven; layer by layer, and ledge by ledge, are +formed, until the pigmy beginning grows to be a strong +sea-wall, like the ramparts of some Old World fortress. +In time, the green wave breaks and feathers on its +crest, whilst other walls slowly but surely raise their +masses from beneath. Within their circling grasp, a +still rock lake at length is formed, round which the +angry billows roll and thunder, chafing at the mighty +barrier disputing their dominion. Here, within the +safe, still pool, collect the thousand and one waifs and +strays, ever to be found floating or driven by the tide +currents. Fragments of wreck from distant shores, dead +fish, empty mollusc shells, echini, sea-weed, and drift-wood +cast far out to sea by the floods of the great rivers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>of the tropics;—all these, and innumerable other objects, +find a resting-place on the newly-formed rocks, and in +due time are broken up by decay, but are always added +to by the same great store, until, wave-borne in their +rough, strong, buoyant husks, come cocoa-nuts and +other seeds. These quickly germinate, sprout up, and +send their roots far out in search of nutriment, and +thus bind the loose materials of the new-formed ground +together. Watered by the tropic showers and sea spray, +the little sea-girt forest grows apace, and the wandering +sea-fowl, and migratory birds are not slow in converting +it into a haven of rest for their wearied pinions. These +last visitors bring in their crops, from far-off continents +and islands, the seeds of many shrubs and plants, +which, falling amongst elements congenial to their +growth, rapidly spring into life, and, like the trees +amongst which they find shelter, bear seed in their +turn, and in due season die, to afford food for their +successors in the kingdom of plants. Man claims some +of these realms as his own; others are left to such +inhabitants as nature may people them with. The West +India Islands, too, are inhabited by many curious and +interesting members of the Crab family: one of these +known as the Land Crab (<i>Gecarcinus ruricola</i>), is +pretty much of a highlander in his nature. The +upland solitudes are most to his taste, and here he +forms for himself a snug retreat beneath the earth of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>the hill-side. As the spawning season approaches, a +mighty gathering of the clans takes place, and whole +legions unwarned by fiery cross, or blazing beacon, +hasten forth to join the living tide flowing onward towards +the sea. Through the tangled jungle, down the +rock-strewn ravine, over fallen tree-trunks, and among +the dense undergrowth of the forest, in ceaseless, creeping, +crawling, scuttling thousands; still they come +onward, and ever onward, as the bright stars shine out +to light them on their way. Banks, hedges, walls, and +even houses are passed straight over in this crustacean +steeplechase, no flags being needed to keep the mail-clad +competitors to the true course—instinct the guide, +and the blue sea for a goal, nothing stops the race.</p> + +<p>Cuffee and his companions, who have been gossiping +and story-telling beneath their cocoa-leaf roofs until +half-asleep, appear to become most violent and incurable +lunatics, on suddenly becoming aware of the nocturnal +exodus: they leap high in the air, shout, scream, +and dance like fiends, whilst the most ready-witted of +the crew dash off to <i>de massa</i> with the startling news. +“Hi, golly, sa; de Crab, de Crab! he come for sure +dis time, sure nuff; plenty catch um bum by;” and +Cuffee keeps his word to the letter, and captures the +pilgrims by the basketful, in spite of their claws; and +black-faced woolley-headed Aunt Lilly, the cook, shows +her teeth like ivory dominoes in an ebony box, as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>visions of white, snow-like rice, cocoa-nut milk, capsicum +pods, and stewpans pass in pleasing and appetising +review before her, and massa himself takes an extra +pull at the cold sangaree jug, sleeps pleasantly, and +dreams of the Crab feast of the morrow.</p> + +<p>At the termination of the spawning season the survivors +return to their homes among the hills; and but +little notice is taken of them now, as they night by night +bend their weary steps on the backward march, poor, +low-conditioned, and unfit for human food, like the +salmon-kelt on his journey to the sea. A short residence +in his earth burrow serves to set our friend the +Crab on his legs again, and make even better food of +him than can be prepared during the migration. Sugar-cane +plantations are his delight, and in them he regales +himself like an alderman, nipping through the +crisp rind of the sugar-bearing reed, sucking the +luscious juices and clawing out the sweet contents, +until a rustling sound warns him that Nemesis, in the +form of our old friend Cuffee, is not far off, and that +active individual, accompanied by a prick-eared cur, and +armed with a spike-pointed cane, pounces down on the +very spot where <i>G. ruricola</i>, Esq. had been so pleasantly +regaling himself, and now commences a fierce +and relentless action.</p> + +<p><i>Cuffee, Cur, and Spike, v. Crab.</i> Ever on the alert, +Crab darts off backwards with astonishing rapidity, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>keeping a very bright eye on the cur, who rushes pell-mell +after him through the canes, cheered on by the +shouts and “Ya, ya’s” of his sable master, whose aim +it is to head back the Crab, or pin him with his spike. +This latter feat he all but accomplishes; but the Crab +darts like lightning a couple of feet backwards, and +then shoots off at right angles with the agility of a +sprite. One more rapid dart in the opposite direction, +the spike is furiously hurled by baffled Cuffee, and is +within an inch of transfixing the cur, who sniffs and +whines disconsolately at the mouth of a hole, which +leads he knows not whither.</p> + +<p>When hunting amongst the grass jungles of the +Mahratta country, we were greatly amused at the +quaint proceedings of a species of Crab which at +certain seasons abounds there. These little fellows, +members of the genus <i>Thelphusa</i>, were, when we saw +them, busily engaged in their hay harvest, and actively +engaged in mowing the grass. This they did in the +most curiously quaint and elfish manner, sitting bolt +upright and working their sharp scissors like nippers +right and left, until enough to form a bundle had been +gathered; then, with this, compactly rolled up in sheafs, +off they would trot to their holes, and when the load +had been safely disposed of, back they would scuttle for +others with quite as much bustle, fuss, and excitement +as if they had been the owners of a large estate, a hundred +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>acres of meadow hay to get in, and the barometer +at change. So we left our funny, clever, energetic little +friends with a good speed, hard at it, making hay whilst +the sun shone.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p056" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p056.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>These little fellows, we have every reason to think, +are purely inland in their habits, and we know of no +instance of their being known to travel either singly +or in bodies to the sea coast. A member of the same +genera, represented in the annexed cut, is found in +many parts of the south of Europe, forming burrows +for itself in the river banks, and from this habit +obtains the name of <i>Thelphusa fluviatilis</i>. Few specimens +reach three inches in length, and the colour is +no means inviting, being of a dingy yellow. Yet it +appears to have attracted much attention amongst the +ancients: both Aristotle and Hippocrates knew it well, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>and there are medals which were struck in very early +periods bearing representations of this Crab on them. +There appear to be some religious associations connected +with crustaceans of this description, as we +find the monks of the Greek church taking +some pains to procure them, and then disposing of +the dainty without troubling the cook. In Italy the +burrowing Crabs are eaten at Easter, much as we eat +hot-cross-buns on Good Friday. There are other Crabs +which form burrows both in the sands of the sea-shore +and the banks and plains of the interior. One of +these is the <i>Sand Crab</i> (<i>Ocypoda arenaria</i>) of +naturalists). The wide, open sand stretches of many +tropical countries, abound with these remarkably agile +little creatures, who excavate holes in the sand close to +the borders of the tide. These are the lilliputian +pedestrians with whom skylarking midshipmen engage +in foot-races along the strand, and meet ignominious +defeat in consequence. As autumn approaches, their +sea-side retreats are quitted, the inland burrows occupied, +and a state of hybernation gone into, until, the +winter having passed away and the spring weather +come, <i>Seaward ho!</i> is the order of the day again.</p> + +<p>The <i>Gelasimus</i> is in many respects similar in its +habits to these fleet-footed gentlemen, but he turns his +attention more directly to sapping and mining operations, +carrying on his labours in the most cunning and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>artful manner. Nothing annoys him more than to have +prying men or investigating animals, passing their remarks, +or taking note of the mouth of his shaft; so he +digs away in his deep level, until he has accumulated a +goodly quantity of sand and earth, when up he comes +stealthily to the opening of his mine, pops out his head, +peers sharply and jealously round, and, if the coast +appears clear, round he flourishes his claw with all the +force and precision of an accomplished round-hand +bowler at cricket, and away he casts the proceeds of his +excavations, but at the same time taking care that no +two clawfuls go in the same direction, lest the newly-raised +sand should betray the secret he is so careful to +conceal.</p> + +<p>The sands of the reefs and islands of the Eastern seas +afford a home for the King Crab (<i>Limulus</i>), who, with +his odd-looking, shield-shaped body, and long blade-like +spike or spear, will be familiar to many of our +readers. Some individuals of this species grow to a +very large size, and are sought for by the Malays, both +on account of the immense number of eggs they sometimes +contain, and the natural weapon with which +nature has armed them. These lance-shaped spears are +often made use of as points for arrows and other warlike +implements, mainly because the wounds inflicted with +them are more painful and dangerous than those +received from instruments of iron or steel. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>Malays are by no means an amiable or forgiving race, +and take infinitely more pains to poison the blade +of the “crease” or serpentine-knife they carry, than to +serve a friend or save a life, and we therefore feel far +more respect for the Crab who furnishes the point for +the arrow, than for the man who fires it. Then there is +the <i>Nut Crab</i>, or <i>Calappa</i>, whose queer little legs are +so closely tucked away under his odd little shell, that +rambling “<i>Jack Tars</i>” in search of “<i>Curios</i>” not unfrequently +gather a few to bring home to their friends, +under the idea that when cut and polished they will +serve to form elegant brooches and splendid shirt-pins, +for the gay promenades of Portsmouth and Plymouth. +A dry old salt of a quartermaster, on the Indian station, +chanced one day, when on shore for a cruise, to become +possessed of a goodly number of these <i>lucky stones</i>, as +he called them, and by way of securing his treasures +placed them in an old silk-handkerchief, and stowed +them away, with a few dollars and sundry cakes of +<i>cavendish</i>, in the corner of his chest. It so happened +that some piratical ship-mate, not proof against the +allurements of <i>honey dew</i> and silver, but totally indifferent +to natural history, seized his opportunity and +spirited off the tobacco and money, but left the <i>lucky +stones</i> behind. The next day, when our old friend +came for his accustomed supply of the weed, he, to his +horror, astonishment, and indignation, found the supposed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>pebbles in active motion, performing foot-races +over his best jacket, the handkerchief spread open, +and, alas! empty. “Well,” exclaimed he, “blow me if +this ain’t too much of the monkey. Why, look ye here, +messmates; these here blessed stones have come to +life, every man Jack of ’em. <i>They’ve chawed all my +bacca</i> and spent every meg of my money; and now I’ll +heave all the beggars to Davey Jones’s locker. Overboard +is where I means to pitch ’em!” and so he did, +no doubt to the intense gratification of the falsely-accused +Crabs. Like the Rocky Mountain ant, in +whose hill precious stones are not unfrequently found,—the +codfish acts the part of treasure-seeker among the +rocks and sands of the ocean’s depths,—minute crustaceans +of great variety, are by the shrewd and practical +lover of natural history, taken from the stomachs of +the captured fish, and many would have remained all +but unknown to science had it not been that the Crab +collecting-habits of certain large sea-fish, were discovered +and promptly taken advantage of. We +strongly advise all those who are fond of collecting +either British or foreign specimens never to miss +the opportunity of acquiring crustaceous wealth held +out by the taking of a large deep sea-fish. Take +out his “<i>treasure-sack</i>”—the stomach,—wash the +contents in plenty of clean water, carefully examine +them, and the trouble will not be thrown away, or the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>research made in vain. We have obtained very large +numbers of a very pretty little Crab scarcely as large +as a coffee-bean (<i>Porcellana longicornis</i>) in this way. +This little creature is closely allied to <i>P. platycheles</i>, +found abundantly on the southern coast of Devon. +He delights to dwell like a sort of “<i>Dirty Dick</i>” of +crustacean life in a mud hovel of his own scooping, +working his way beneath stones which appear close +enough to the bottom to make a crab-biscuit of him. +Catch him, when or how you will, he is always like an +elfish brick-maker, condemned to make bricks without +straw, and debarred the privilege of washing. His +jacket and trousers are begrimed with red dust, and his +queer little face peers out at you, like that of an Indian +idol smeared with war-paint. Nature has, however, +endowed him with brush-bearing feet, with which he +from time to time dusts his own suit; but he remains +a rather dusty, grimy, little fellow after all, and we +cannot help thinking that the treatment prescribed +by Mr. Dick, for David Copperfield, would greatly +benefit his personal appearance. Nature appears, when +modelling the forms of the endless types of curious +crustacean life with which the Southern and Eastern +seas abound, to have given free scope to a love for +marvellous quaintness and oddity of contour. The +coasts of Japan furnish us with examples of Crab life +so hideously grotesque, that nothing short of seeing a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>veritable specimen would serve to convince any one +who had first seen a sketch of this Japanese notability, +that the whole conception was not the creation of a +distempered dream. <i>Macrocheira-kœmpferi</i>, of which +two remarkably fine specimens are to be seen in the +British Museum, are just the kind of Crabs a timid +young lady, or nervous young gentleman, would strongly +object to meet “<i>by the sad sea wave</i>,” or elsewhere. +Their legs are so long, that running away from them +would be utterly useless,—giving them, when standing, +the height of an ordinary camp-stool, whilst the +nipper claws appear constructed precisely on the same +principle as are the arms of the magic policeman of a +pantomime, which stretch easily from the level of the +street to the housetop, where that prince of evil-doers, +the clown, has vainly sought sanctuary. Then the +coasts of Tasmania and other portions of Australasia +are inhabited by Crabs, who make up in bulk and +enormous power, the little they may fall short of their +Japanese cousins in length of limb. The pincers of +some of these are large enough to embrace the thigh of +a man easily, and we apprehend that escape from that +bugbear of apple-stealing rustics, the village man-trap, +would be a matter of perfect simplicity, and a mere +practical joke, to getting out of the grip of one of the +gigantic crustaceans of the antipodes. As some of these +are remarkable for their formidable appearance and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>colossal power, so are others well worthy of note on +account of their beauty of colour and elegance of conformation. +<i>Neptunus pelagicus</i>, a Crab of medium size, +is wonderfully handsome, being ornamented with most +strangely arranged spicules, and spotted with purple, +shading off into pink. <i>Oceanus crucifer</i>, an inhabitant +of the Indian seas, is perfectly charming in his way; in +fact, a sort of “<i>Dresden beauty</i>,” who might be easily +mistaken for a specimen of the most exquisite pink and +white china.</p> + +<p>From the Chilian coast we have another Crab, of a +totally different style of beauty, in the person of +<i>Cancer dentatus</i>, who appears to have laid the forest +under contribution to furnish his unique wardrobe. +A coat of bark, plant-stalk legs, and a very becoming +frill, of autumnal-brown fern-leaves, constitute his <i>get +up</i>, and it is no flattery to say that he looks uncommonly +well in it. From the Caribbean sea we get, +amongst a whole host of strange productions, that +little gem of a Crab, <i>Mithraculus coronatus</i>. He looks +as if designed expressly to be converted into a brooch, +his compact little body resembling the most delicately +tinted, blue porcelain, whilst his tiny claws are more +like minute tufts of fur than aught else we can compare +them to.</p> + +<p><i>Leucosia urania</i> is another strange Chinese Crab, +resembling in no common degree a pebble of polished +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>white agate; whilst a brother, <i>P. porcellana</i>, is found in +Australia; and nearer home, we obtain from the neighbourhood +of the Island of Madeira the <i>Plagusia +squamosa</i>, or Goat Crab, whose whole shell is rich in +ornamentation, and who is by no means unlike a +handsomely chased snuff-box, inlaid with chinaware +and metal. Unlike these bits of ocean bric-a-brac +is <i>Parthenope horrida</i>, from the reefs bordering the Isle +of France. This unprepossessing individual the casual +observer would declare without hesitation to be an +ungainly, rugged lump of broken white coral rock; and +there are uncomfortable asperities and corners enough +to prevent any pedestrian, however heedless, from +stepping on it; and let him just pick one up to cast at +some passing sea-bird, and see how quickly the stone +will resent the liberty, and show how he is to be +depended on at a pinch. Then, to step from the harsh +and uncompromising to the grotesque and elfish, we +have but to visit the genial blue waters of the Mediterranean, +where we find about as comical a little Crab +as exists in all “Crabdom,” wide as that ill-defined +dominion unquestionably is. This little gentleman is +known as <i>Dromia lator</i>, and his habits, to say the +least of them, are as eccentric as his personal appearance +is queer. A hairy, wiry-coated, round-bodied, +little crabling is he, and his delight is to go hunting and +foraging about amongst the coralines, medusæ, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>molluscs at the bottom, and because he is a designing, +artful little wolf of a crab, he brings to bear his talent +for stratagem. After searching out a nice, hollow +piece of soft and fine-grained sponge, he works his way +under it—roaches up his little back, until the yielding +material opens and again closes round him, thus forming +a snug and well fitting great-coat, which, like charity, +covers a multitude of sins.</p> + +<p>The tricksy sprites of fish and shrimps, as they +joyously disport themselves amongst the branching +coral, take little heed of the familiar ball of sponge, +which in some unaccountable manner or another +appears, uninvited, in the very midst of the revels. +It is strange, certainly, that guest after guest should +vanish into it, and return no more; but sponges, you +know, are common enough in every grade of society, +and therefore it is that the one in question is little +suspected of having a live adventurer, of the most +acquisitive and <i>nipsome</i> habits, bound up within its +folds: but there he is, for all that, as you would find +out to your cost, if you unwittingly enlisted him for +toilet purposes, on the strength of his borrowed +uniform.</p> + +<p>As another instance of quaint resemblance to +inanimate or stationary objects, we have <i>Echinocerus +cibarius</i>, a native of the North-west Coast of America, +where it was discovered during the voyage of Her +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>Majesty’s ship <i>Plumper</i>; and nothing on earth does +this rugose creature so much resemble as a large, uneven, +ball of half-baked brick clay, and his claim to the +honour of being a Crab, would be laughed to scorn by +those who from bashfulness had never shaken hands +with him. Australia, that land of oddities, contributes +to our store a perfect little sea vagabond, in the person +of <i>Pilumnus nespertilis</i>, who is without any exception +the very dirtiest and most disreputable-looking little +scamp in all king Neptune’s dominions. Cut a frayed-out +corner, from a chimney-sweep’s soot-bag, and you +have his exact resemblance. Yet who shall say that +<i>P. nespertilis</i> is not a gentleman, in spite of his +unpromising and unfashionable raiment!</p> + +<p>Australia is a land of contradictions, as we all know. +Even <i>explorers’</i> names serve but to mislead and confound +the uninitiated. We have “Cape pigeons,” +which are no more pigeons than wild geese or storks: +“Cape salmon,” which own to no bonds of relationship +with the family of <i>Salmonidæ</i>.</p> + +<p>The “robins” of the United States of America +bear no resemblance to those of England, and enjoy +none of the love, protection, and numerous privileges +universally accorded to their more fortunate namesakes +on this side of the Atlantic. Again, we say advisedly, +let no man heedlessly try the strength of his teeth on +an “Indian wood-apple,” simply because it is called +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>“an apple.” He had far better make an attempt on +an iron cannon-shot of Woolwich pattern at once, than +try his powers of mastication on one of these forest +fruits. The cherry of Australia, too, has a disagreeable +and exasperating habit of growing with its stone outside, +and of being highly unpalatable into the bargain; +whilst the “pear” of that favoured land would, if +duly fitted by a clever cabinet-maker, and properly +polished, make an excellent and highly ornamental +knob for a street door. A cabbage-tree is by no means +bad as a producer of material for the manufacture +of hats, and the green tops are occasionally boiled by +settlers of vegetarian inclinings; but any one sanguine +enough to seek cabbages amongst the cabbage-palms +might reasonably be looked for, with bridle on arm, +and basket in hand, carefully prospecting the pastures +for a “mare’s nest,” with a view to the leading home +of the colts and the basketing of such eggs as might +remain unhatched. Depend, therefore, that our begrimed +little acquaintance is not exactly as stupid as +he looks, and that his dirty, hempen jacket, is given +him for some wise purpose. Nothing is created in +vain; and Columbus, with all his talent and power as a +sea commander, gladly availed himself of the services +of one of the most tiny Crabs (<i>Planes minutus</i>), who, +floating by the good ship, in his tangled bed of <i>Sargossa</i> +or gulf-weed, was hauled on board by the bronzed and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>storm-tossed mariners, by whom he was at once introduced +to the chief, the man of demonstration, who +crushed in the egg’s end to make it stand upright. +“A crab!” said he; “a good and fair harbinger of +land, which, with God’s help, we shall soon discover.” +And so they did, for the Crab’s tale came true, and the +West India Islands were almost immediately fallen in +with, and duly investigated.</p> + +<p><i>P. minutus</i> is a roving sailor by nature, and is +carried on his long sea-voyages by the masses of weed +ever carried onward by the warm and genial gulf-stream, +and there is little doubt that members of the family to +which he belongs, now naturalized on our own coasts, +first travelled hither amongst the meshes of their +ocean raft, which knew no return. Such specimens as +have been procured on the coasts of England, are not +as large or brilliant in their colour, as those captured in +more genial climes.</p> + +<p>The Floating Crabs, as met with in true gulf streams, +are extremely pretty little creatures, measuring about +eight-tenths of an inch in length. They are clouded +and shaded with rich warm brown, yellow, and buff, +and well deserve the consideration of the lover of +natural history.</p> + +<p>The almost innumerable channels stretching between +the coral reefs, lagunes, and palm-clad islands of the +Southern Seas are inhabited by legions of Crabs of next +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>to endless species and varieties. Many of these feed +luxuriously on the vast numbers of “Trepang,” or sea +slug (<i>Holotharia edulis</i>) found in these latitudes. The +human crab industriously seeks his share of this half-grub, +half-slug, delicacy, and some account of its nature +and mode of preparation may not prove unacceptable +to the reader. The <i>Bêche-de-mer</i>, as this uninviting +looking creature is called by the traders who deal in it, +is in immense request in nearly every market in the +Chinese empire, as a stock ingredient to be used in the +preparation of the rich, glutinous soups and stews, in +which the Celestials so much delight. They are also +extensively used to mix with little squares of salt +pork, sharks’ fins, and pickled bamboo shoots; when +thus combined, served up as a stew, and accompanied +by diminutive cups of hot “sam shoo,” or rice spirit, +John Chinaman, when fortunate enough to get it, +yields himself to gastronomic enjoyment, and cares not +to call the most important mandarin in the empire, his +uncle. As there are brands of high repute amongst +wine producers, so are there <i>high</i> and <i>low</i> class <i>slugs</i> in +the sea’s great larder, and there are six kinds well +known in the trade.</p> + +<p>The best are those procured by divers, who prosecute +their labours amongst the deep recesses between +the reefs, where the water is always of considerable +depth. The next quality is taken by nocturnal hunting-parties, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span>who sally forth, torch in hand, and thread +the intricate mazes amongst the coral ponds and lagunes, +making night hideous by their fiendish shouts, and +wild, weird proceedings. The bright moon-light nights +so enjoyable within the tropics, are also taken advantage +of, for slug-catching purposes, when great quantities +of average worth are not unfrequently procured. The +inferior sorts are usually gathered by the idlers and +children of the islands, who wander about in the rock +pools left by the receding tide, and pick up all they +can there discover. The trader obtains the various +kinds and qualities from the slug-hunters, and at once +proceeds to select them according to their market value. +Benches are erected, on which they are first cut open +with sharp knives, cleansed, and placed without water +in very large cauldrons to cook. The juices thrown +out by the Trepang are sufficient to prepare him in, and +prevent his becoming too dry in the kettle stage of the +operation.</p> + +<p>From the boiling department they are removed to +large wooden sheds, erected for drying them in. Here +they are arranged on shelves placed one over the other, +where they are constantly turned and most carefully +attended to; huge wood fires being kept burning to +expedite the process, as it is essential that the slugs +should be completely freed from even the slightest suspicion +of moisture before they are packed for deposit +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>on board ship. Comparatively few persons have any idea +of the immense commercial importance to be attached +to this branch of industry; but some rough notion +of the enormous number of these questionable-looking +dainties annually collected by the Trepang catchers may +be formed, when we state, that a single trader from America +obtained, during a bartering expedition amongst +the Fejee group of islands, in return for the issue of +miscellaneous articles and objects of trade, representing +no very great value, 25,000 dollars’ worth of Trepang +in seven months. And in order to still further show +that even this repulsive and insignificant-looking sea-worm +is worthy of the consideration of the “grave and +staid merchant,” we give the financial return made on +one voyage prosecuted for its obtainment:—Peculs⁠<a id="FNanchor_3_3" href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> of +slugs obtained, 1,200; cost of goods and outfit, 3,500 +dollars; money return on sales effected, 27,000 dollars. +The value of the prepared slugs in the markets of the +East may be said to range between ten and sixty dollars +per pecul, according to condition, demand, and quality. +Advantages even greater than the direct acquisition of +money have resulted from this peculiar trade. Discoveries +have been made of islands, unknown until the +adventurous traders landed on them; and commercial +pursuits have been successfully prosecuted with tribes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>who, in all probability, would have remained hostile to +Europeans for ages to come, had not that humble missionary, +the sea-slug, opened up the road to friendship, +well-reposed trust, and business relationship.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3_3" href="#FNanchor_3_3" class="label">[3]</a> A <i>Pecul</i> weighs 133⅓ lbs., and is a weight common throughout +the Southern and Eastern seas.</p></div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="SHRIMPS_AND_PRAWNS"> + SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS. + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Like our friends the crabs, these are of many species, +and inhabit every sea from pole to pole. Our own +coast line is pretty generally occupied by them, and +very few places of seaside resort fail in affording sport +to the Shrimp or Prawn catcher. An error, into which +many persons fall, is the confounding of Shrimps and +Prawns with each other, although the differences between +their general form and appearance are sufficiently +marked to strike the most casual observer. The true +Shrimp of our waters is the mottled spotted-brown +kind, the so-called Sand Shrimp (<i>Crangon vulgaris</i>) +the subject of the annexed cut. Besides the difference +in colour and the hooked form of the fore-feet, the +tremendously formidable-looking weapon with which +the head of the Prawn is provided, and from which +the Pacific Islanders appear to have borrowed the +design for their shark-tooth swords, is absent in <i>C. vulgaris</i>. +Its favourite haunts are the wide, open sand +flats and the mouths of tidal rivers. The name “sand +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>raiser,” often applied to it by fishermen, is by no means +inappropriate, and arises from the curious habit it has +of suddenly raising a perfect cloud of fine sand, round +itself—firing, so to speak, “a broadside for the sake of +the smoke,” and literally throwing dust in the eyes of +his enemies.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p074" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p074.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>This designing little Genius, after raising his own +sand storm, adroitly scoops for himself a tiny trench in +the soft material on which he rests, and then remaining +perfectly still, allows the falling grains to cover him +snugly in, like a sheep in a snow-drift. Great numbers +of Shrimps of this kind, as well as small flat fish, and +an endless number of odd waifs and strays, can be +taken with the dredge—a contrivance shown in the +following cut. The framework is of iron, the two +straight bars or bridle rods are made so as to play +freely round the end bars of the frame, as at <i>a</i>, whilst +a sort of hinge joint admits of their moving up or +down, thus insuring close contact between the lower +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>edge of the frame and the bottom, as it is dragged +along by a rope, either lowered from a boat or attached +to a horse. The extreme end, or purse of the net, is +made to untie like the mouth of a bag as at <span class="allsmcap">B</span>, which +greatly facilitates the removal of its contents when +overhauling is needed. The two rings, <span class="allsmcap">C C</span>, serve to +attach the drag rope to.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p075" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p075.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>An apparatus constructed much on the same general +principles, and known as the <i>keer drag</i>, is also in much +use. A beam of wood and a set of “<i>yoke lines</i>” serve +to keep the body of the net distended, and the purse is +secured with a few turns of twine. The dredge we have +figured and described may have a much shorter <i>bag</i> of +very strong network attached to it, if the nature of the +ground dredged over, and the kind of productions +sought, should render it necessary. The net we have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>represented is mainly intended for the taking of small +crustaceans, and such other odds and ends of animal +and vegetable life, as may be found on smooth ground +and the open sand flats. There are a number of patterns +for dredges, more or less complicated, to be obtained +from their respective inventors. The reader may +perchance wish to design one for himself. Let him, +however, bear in mind that simplicity of construction, +and thoroughly good iron, are two important elements +of successful manufacture, durability, and general +usefulness.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p076" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p076.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p078" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p078.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The seaside visitor not possessed of one of these +contrivances will find such a net as that figured in the +above cut extremely useful and amusing. It can be +made at a very trifling cost, and is easily repaired +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>when broken. In using it the Shrimp fisherman wades +steadily onward, and pushes his net steadily before him +until it is supposed that the contents are sufficiently +abundant, when they are taken out and fresh research +commenced. The rugged rock-strewn shores of many +parts of the coast of England, Ireland, and the Channel +Islands, require fishing in an entirely different manner, +both by pole and hoop-nets. The pole-net as shown in +the following cut, is a most efficient instrument for the +capture of the different kinds of Prawns and other +small crustaceans found in the rock-pools, bays, and +inlets of the coast line. The frame supporting the bag +of the net should be of sound tough iron, and of flat +form, but slightly turned up at the point, as at <span class="allsmcap">A</span>. A +slight groove, like the fullering of a horse-shoe, must +extend entirely round both the under and upper surfaces, +in order to form a secure rest for a stout piece of +copper bell-wire, with which the bag of the net is +secured to the frame. Small holes are now to be drilled +at short intervals all round the frame in the bottom of +the groove, so that the wire may be passed up and +down through them, and so fasten on the net, the +bottom of which must be so fashioned and constricted +in making, as to terminate in the purse <span class="allsmcap">B</span>. The pole <span class="allsmcap">C</span> +is best made of well-seasoned ash, and should be at +least twelve feet long, and bent as at <span class="allsmcap">D</span>. This is easily +done by heat, as ox-bows and many other objects are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>formed. When Shrimping with the pole-net, it is a +good plan to carry a rough, fork-ended wand, with +which to probe crevices between rocks, too small or +narrow to admit the net. The largest Prawns often +take advantage of such retreats, and dart into them +on the least alarm. It is well before wading into a +promising-looking pool, to cast a sharp, scrutinising +glance into it, when the Prawns will frequently be seen, +out of their haunts, sailing about amongst the weeds +and ledges with extraordinary grace and elegance of +movement, their long feelers and hair-like antennæ +spreading out and waving in ceaseless play. By introducing +the net cautiously, a number of these gadabouts +may be taken before sufficient disturbance is +caused to send them off to their lurking-places, to +which, when really alarmed, they shoot with the speed +of an arrow. The fugitives generally seek a place of +concealment as near the surface as possible, and it is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>well, therefore, to seek high up for them. As a dress +for shrimping we strongly recommend a wool shirt, +tweed jacket and trousers, wide, felt hat, woollen socks, +and a pair of easy shoes in which there are plenty of +holes for the water to run out through. A good +number of narrow-headed, steel nails should be driven +into both soles and heels, in order to prevent slipping +on the sloping rock-faces, which, when coated with +weeds, are far more difficult to maintain a footing on +than ice. Never take a watch, keys, or a pocket-knife +of any value with you when you go to shrimp, or they +will be rusted to a certainty; but a common knife, and +a good store of twine for repairs are essentials. Bags +and over-handled baskets are both very inconvenient +receptacles for such Prawns or Shrimps as you may be +fortunate enough to catch—the bags getting wet and +hanging about you in an uncomfortable and chilling +manner, whilst the baskets appear to take a malignant +pleasure in upsetting themselves in some uncomfortable +manner, whenever they are left to themselves, +even for a few minutes. Nothing is equal to the ordinary +creel carried by the river fisherman. A broad +piece of woollen web, such as race-horses’ circingales +are made of, forms an excellent shoulder-strap, and is +far better for the purpose than leather.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p080" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p080.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>As in crab-catching, advantage should be taken of +very low tides, and a very sharp look-out kept for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>Prawns when the young flood begins to make its +approach, as all ocean life is then in full activity. The +<i>Hoop net</i> before referred to, and represented in the +annexed illustration, is used in a very different manner +from that just described. Instead of being worked +by hand, it is first baited with offal and then deposited +in the bottom of such pools as are likely to contain +Prawns. A considerable number of these nets are +often taken out for use by one fisherman, who uses a +long, fork-ended, pole, for laying down and taking them +up; the cork bung, or float, which indicates their +whereabouts, serving as a sort of button for the fork +of the pole to lift them by, as at <span class="allsmcap">A</span>. The hoop and net +are kept in a proper position by being suspended like +a scale pan by three or more cords. Iron or wood may +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>be used for making the hoops, and a stone placed +amongst the bait keeps the net steadily at the bottom. +Nets of this kind are, in certain localities, used from +boats. Shrimp-fisheries of great commercial importance +exist in many localities for the supply of the London +and other great markets, and it is only necessary to +reflect for an instant on the enormous quantities of these +crustaceans eaten every day in the almost endless tea-gardens, +supper-rooms, and places of public resort in and +about London alone, to be convinced that the consumption +of shrimps is truly enormous. Billingsgate teems +with them. Sieves worked by nimble hands separate +the large from the small, and draw the “<i>ad valorem</i>” +distinction between <i>St. James</i> and <i>St. Giles</i>. Those +coral-like aristocrats, the true Prawns of the family +(<i>Palæmon serratus</i>), are not subjected to the ignoble +standard of measurement, but are counted carefully +and grudgingly out, like a king’s ransom, and estimated +by the dozen. Yet it not unfrequently happens that +<i>P. serratus</i> in his infancy and youth, so far associates +himself with plebeian company as to be boiled in the +same pot with his less distinguished associates. (Here +we might moralize, but space forbids.) Mixed with a +heterogeneous crew of captured crustaceans of many +grades, and the water torture gone through, P. S., like +many other young gentlemen wearing jackets of a +different colour, loses all individuality, and is ignominiously +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>classed among “<i>cup shrimps</i>,” measured out +in a vulgar tin half-pint, vended by a costermonger +and eaten by a sweep. The countless thousands thus +disposed of are not taken with the appliances which a +pleasure-seeker or amateur would make use of, but are +caught by regular network engines fitted out for the +purpose, and worked from boats; and if a stray +salmon or two will blunder stupidly into the meshes, <i>to +the extreme annoyance of the owners</i>, what can H.M.’s +Fishery Commissioners do, but pity their wayward flock +for straying into the toils of the shrimp-wolf, and +coming to an untimely end in consequence? It should +be borne in mind that live shrimps are excellent baits +for a number of sea and river fish. The perch, although +usually classed among fresh-water fish, delights in a +“sniff of the briney.” Brackish water he glories, +revels, and thrives in; show him a nice fresh shrimp, +and see how soon he becomes your humble servant. +Grey mullet, too, have a weakness for shrimp enticements, +and we know of no more deadly bait for the +lordly salmon, than a freshly-caught Prawn. If any +proof of its excellence for this purpose is needed, we +have only to advise the sceptic to try it, by trolling as +with a minnow. The principal food of <i>Salmo salar</i> +and some other migratory members of the family <i>salmonidæ</i>, +when on their long sea voyages, mainly consists +of crustacea, and the countless myriads of opossum +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>shrimps (<i>Mysis vulgaris</i>) peopling the Northern and +Arctic seas, serve to furnish food for the vast shoals +of these fish, during their annual visits and migrations +to salt water. “The Whalebone,” “Right,” or Greenland +Whale, would soon become as extinct as the mastadon, +if any shrimp-disease should, in an untimely manner, +carry off the lively little opossum. Away among the +ice-fields of the far north, where the drifting floes and +crashing bergs drift onward before the gale, and +where, as winter sets in, the polar bears and Arctic +foxes, feel hard times, and are at a loss for a dinner, +our huge leviathan acquaintance, the whale, holds high +festival; merely opening his cavernous mouth wide +enough for a deluge of water to rush in, and then by +a sudden effort, sending it out again, through the +numerous strainers and fringes, with which nature has +gifted him.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The sounds and seas, each creek and bay,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of fish that with their fins and shining scales</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Glide under the green wave, in sculls that oft</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Bank the mid-sea: part single or with mate</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Graze, the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of coral stray; or sporting with quick glance,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Show to the sun their waved coats dropped with gold</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Or, in their pearly shells at ease, attend</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Moist nutriment; or under rocks their food</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In jointed armour watch; on smooth the seal</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And bended dolphins play: part huge of bulk,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> <div class="verse indent0">Tempest the ocean: there leviathan,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Hugest of living creatures, on the deep,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And seems a moving land; and at his gills</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out a sea.”</div> + </div> + +<p class="right"> + <span class="smcap">Milton.</span> +</p> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The water passes freely through, but the poor little +opossums, by the peck, are left behind, to help in +building up the material by the aid of which the goddess +of fashion contrives to maintain such an exceedingly +good figure. But if the whale devours his legions +of opossums, he has not, big as he is, matters all his own +way. There is a little crustacean (<i>Cyamus ceti</i>) so much +attached to him, that like the old man of the sea, who, +when once established on Sinbad’s back could not by +ordinary means be induced to come off again, appears +quite content with matters as they are, and nibbles +away at the skin of his gigantic steed, just as his +appetite may require. Thus enjoying all the advantages +of noble company, free travelling, and a permanent +residence on his own dining-table.</p> + +<p>Unlike the ordinary shrimps who carry their eggs +about with them but for a time, the opossums carry +theirs until the young are sufficiently developed to +shift for themselves, when a peculiar valve-like, +trap-door arrangement is caused to open, and the +young shrimp fry, start in the world of waters, and +seek for themselves their own maintenance. Arctic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>voyagers who are conversant with the habits of shrimps, +and who have a knowledge of the peculiarities of <i>M. +vulgaris</i>, do not heedlessly trust their salt junk over +the side to soak, fearing lest their experiences might +be like those of the Norse skipper, who, in a spirit of +maritime recklessness, lowered the dinner of his ship’s +company to the ocean’s depths, and hauled up, much +to his consternation and disgust, a well-nibbled string +instead. The opossums and their relations had eaten +the rest.</p> + +<p>The Indian and Chinese seas yield an endless +variety of both the shrimp and prawn families, the +latter of a size far beyond anything we see in our +more frigid waters (<i>Palæmon carcinus</i>), common to the +Indian Ocean and some of the great rivers flowing into +it, not unfrequently reaching a foot in length. Those +usually sold in the Indian markets are not as large +as these, but are still of sufficient size to render them +highly attractive; and those who, like us, have eaten +prawns in the East, prepared by those who know the +secrets of the art, will bear away the remembrance of +their flavour as an agreeable souvenir. That is, if the +said prawns happen to be free from the curious, and +little understood fish poison, with which the denizens +of Tropic seas are too often encumbered. In favoured +England, no such drawback to the full enjoyment of +your prawn-feast need exist; the common difficulty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>being the obtainment of a sufficient quantity to +enjoy.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p086" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p086.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>Many of the rivers emptying themselves into the +Carribean Sea, after flowing through Florida, contain +at their mouths, within the influence of the salt water, +Prawns of very large size. These have been improperly +called “<i>The crawfish of America</i>,” but they +are true members of the Prawn family (<i>Palæmon +setiferus</i>); many of these measure between seven and +eight inches in length, and like their relatives in other +seas, are by no means bad to eat. Many of our readers +will no doubt have observed, when engaged in the +pleasant operation of shelling their bright scarlet +Prawns, before eating them, that on the carapace of one +here and there, exists an oval, bladder-like projection, as +though some smooth, transparent, univalve shell, had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>there closely attached itself. This contains a parasite +crustacean. On raising the horny cap, beneath which +it shelters, the intruder may be discovered keeping fast +hold of the branchiæ, or gills of the prawn, who appears +to suffer no inconvenience, or injury, from the presence of +his companion. This curious little creature is the <i>Bopyrus +crangorum</i> of naturalists; the foregoing illustration +represents the common Prawn (<i>P. serratus</i>), with the +parasite attached to it. The shrimp form is not exclusively +confined to the sea and tidal rivers. Fresh +water lakes, ponds, and streams in many parts of the +world have their shrimp tenants of one kind or +another, many of them highly noteworthy for the +beauty of their organization. The fairy shrimp (<i>Chirocephalus +diaphanus</i>) is a well-marked example. This +elegant little creature is occasionally met with in the +fresh water ponds and pools of this country, and can at +times be obtained in the neighbourhood of London. +Its first appearance strikes the examiner as being most +remarkable. The ordinary position assumed by most +aquatic creatures, is not to his taste or fancy, so he +swims on his back, rising to the surface or sinking +away into deep water, just as his will may direct, and +gliding here and there, like some tiny elfin boat +endowed with vitality. Its colours are most charming +and exquisite, clear and transparent, of a delicate sea-green +hue; it floats like a shadow through the water, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>whilst its host of fringed feet, wave and undulate like +growing corn, as they send the passing current through +them, and by their ciliary movement, glean the +particles of nutritive matter floating by. Its long, +bright, red horns and tail serve as a foil to set off the +other beauties which nature has so lavishly bestowed. +The fairy shrimp rarely exceeds an inch in length, and +when placed in a vase of clear water forms a most +pleasing object for contemplation.</p> + +<p>In the pools and ditches of our lanes and fields, we +find another curious little crustacean creature, <i>Apus productus</i>, +who differs entirely from that already described, +in almost every habit but that of swimming on his back. +In some localities the stagnant waters swarm with countless +myriads of these odd little animals, who have the +uncomfortable habit of burying their heads and bodies +in the sand or mud, and leaving their ridiculous little +tails waving about in the water, like the pendants of +sunken wrecks. <i>A. productus</i> appears to enter on the +responsibilities of life under more than ordinarily disadvantageous +circumstances, being born with only one +eye, half a shell-jacket, and, hardest of all, without a tail. +All these deficiencies, however, are made up in time, and +<i>A. productus</i> flourishes. He is extremely fond of tadpoles, +and in the season usually obtains a fair share of his +favourite provender. The spawn of both frogs and toads +he has a weakness for; but Nemesis, in the form of a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>water-wagtail, is rarely far off; and as he trots daintily +along with his delicate claws in the water and his tail +in ceaseless movement, depend on it that the beak is +not idle, and that the family of <i>A. P.</i> is paying the +penalty by wholesale.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span></p> + + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p090" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p090.png" alt=""> +</figure> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_COMMON_ENGLISH_LOBSTER"> + THE COMMON ENGLISH LOBSTER, + <br> + (<i>Homarus vulgaris</i>) + </h2> +</div> + + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p091" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p091.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>As seen on the marble slab of the fishmonger, is very +unlike his relatives beneath the waves. The curled up +form in which he is seen when so exposed is not that +usually assumed in its own element, unless in the act +of exerting its immense powers of retrograde motion. +These are so great that one sudden downward sweep of +its curiously constructed, oar-like tail, is sufficient to +send it like an arrow, three or four-and-twenty feet, +with the most extraordinary precision, thereby enabling +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>our friend to retreat with the greatest rapidity into +nooks, corners, and crevices among the rocks, where +pursuit would be hopeless. His eyes being arranged +on foot stalks, or stems, are free from the inconvenient +trammels of sockets, and possess a radius of vision +commanding both front and rear, and from their compound +form (being made up of a number of square lenses) +are extremely penetrating and powerful. The slightest +shadow passing over the pool in which the lobster may +chance to be crawling or swimming, will frequently +cause one of these sudden backward shoots to be made, +and <i>H. vulgaris</i> vanishes into some cleft or cavity with +a rapidity of motion which no harlequin could ever, +even in his wildest dreams, hope to achieve. Down +among the deep channels, between the crags at the +sea’s bottom, alarms, except from the sea robbers +themselves, are not to be dreaded. Here the lobsters +are at home, and in such spots the wicker-trap, before +described and figured, or the trunk-net represented in +the above cut, may be laid down for them. Nets of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>this kind are in general use. They are made by fastening +a number of stout, wooden hoops to longitudinal +bars, and covering them with network. Their internal +construction is much like that of the crab-pot, only +there are two entrances instead of one, and twine is +used in lieu of willows or twigs to prevent the prisoners +from escaping. Heavy stones are attached to +them as sinkers. Fish offal is used as bait, and corks +at the end of lines serve to point out their position +and haul them up by. Lobsters are prolific creatures, +and it is well that they are so, considering the enormous +quantities consumed every day in England alone.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p092" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p092.png" alt=""> +</figure> +<br> +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p093" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p093.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>It has been computed that each fully-matured female +will produce from 18,000 to 20,000 eggs, and there is +little doubt but that with proper management and the +expenditure of a very small capital, artificial fecundation +of the ova of crustaceans might be most successfully +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>and profitably conducted in this country. Much +attention has of late been paid to this subject in France, +and many most interesting experiments in connexion +with it have been tried. The annexed cut represents a +set of chambers, or troughs, which were erected in the +<i>College de France</i>, Paris, for the hatching of the eggs of +the various crustacea. 1 is the reservoir in which the +water is placed; this runs through the tap, 2, into a +series of glass troughs in which gravel has been placed; +3, 3, 3, through which it flows and then discharges +itself into the main receiver, 4. This apparatus, although +very neat and ornamental, is far more costly than there +is any need for. Such a contrivance as that represented +in the above illustration can be readily put +up for a few shillings, and will be found to answer +every practical requirement as perfectly as the more +costly arrangement, <span class="allsmcap">A</span>, is a common tub in which a +wooden tap is fixed; <span class="allsmcap">B</span>, is a series of shallow earthenware +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>dishes, or pans with lips, such as are sold at +almost all earthenware shops for domestic use. The +stands may be made from a few boards and fir poles +nailed together; very little ingenuity is needed to enable +any cottager to hatch out his own young crustaceans +from the egg. The common river cray-fish has been +extensively propagated artificially, and there appears +no limit to the extent to which fish-hatching in all its +branches may be carried by the industrious. There +appears, comparatively, little trouble in the early stages +of the process—the eggs of the female being placed on +gravel at the bottom of the pans. The seed of the +male fish is then laid on it, and, in due time, favoured +by gentle streams of sea-water constantly flowing, the +young crustaceans come forth. In rearing them it must +be borne in mind that as their food, when in a state of +nature, mainly consists of marine worms, fish spawn, +and the lesser crustacea, food of a suitable character must +be provided until the young nurselings are old enough +to turn out in the sea pools to shift for themselves. +Our space will not admit of our dealing at any length +with this subject, and the few hints we have given are +mainly intended to show that important results in this +branch of national wealth may be arrived at by the use +of very simple means and appliances. The number of +Lobsters brought every season to Billingsgate Market +will serve to give some idea of the importance of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>Lobster-fishing, and the sums of money which must +change hands in connexion with it. Calculations +show that from the coasts of England, Ireland, Scotland, +and the Channel Islands, 150,000 Lobsters per +season reach Billingsgate Market, exclusive of the supply +of Norway Lobsters (<i>Nephrops norvegicus</i>), as represented +in the accompanying illustration. These are +even more abundantly supplied, and over 600,000 per +season are imported. It not unfrequently happens +that one day’s supply for that great emporium of sea +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>dainties reaches as high as 25,000; and here at early +morning, long before mighty London is fairly up for +the day, a scene of bustle and activity may be witnessed +which well repays the early riser—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Double-double, toil and trouble,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Steam in clouds floats above the vast loads of newly-boiled +crustaceans and molluscs; carts of every size and +pattern block the way, from the castellated conveyances +of Messrs. Chaplin and Horne, to the humble donkey +shallow: ice, in saw-dusty bales, is jostled against +orange-boxes; figs and codfish greet each other like old +friends, whilst West India pineapples, haddocks, oysters, +and Spanish chestnuts appear determined to make a +day of it and go off together.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p095" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p095.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The popularity of the Lobster extends far beyond the +limits of our island, and he travels about to all parts of +the known world, like an imprisoned spirit soldered up +in an air-tight box. It has been said that during the +Indian war a box of regimental stores belonging to our +forces fell into the hands of the enemy, who thinking +that a great capture of some kind of deadly and destructive +ammunition had been made, rammed the painted +tin cases, with goodly charges of powder behind them, +into their immense guns, laid them steadily on the +devoted British troops, and then with a flash and a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>thundering roar, preserved lobster, from Fortnum and +Mason’s, was scattered far and wide over the battlefield. +Fishermen declare that thunder or the reports +of artillery causes the lobsters in the store boxes or +wells, in which they are brought alive to market, to +suddenly cast off their large claws, just as the crabs do +in their battles with each other; a smart blow will +cause a lobster to throw off a damaged claw, and thus +stop bleeding in the manner before described.</p> + +<p>The regular Lobster season may be said approximately +to last from the month of March to August. About +the middle or latter end of the last-mentioned month +the shifting of shells takes place, and the fish is unfit +for human food; but, like silkworms after a change of +skin, they commence feeding in the most voracious +manner directly the new garment is durable enough to +admit of their taking their walks abroad, and their +temporary seclusion and compulsory abstinence is amply +made up for by a course of heavy feeding. The lost +plumpness and condition soon return, and the winter +season furnishes Lobsters equal in goodness and flavour +to any caught “in <i>high lobster time</i>.” It has been +remarked by many experienced shell-fish dealers that +the Lobster is exceedingly local in its habits, and there +are some who profess to be able to recognise the natives of +particular localities by their general appearance and the +colour of their shells. Unlike some crustaceans who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>are coldly indifferent to the welfare of their offspring, +the mamma Lobster keeps her little brood about her +until the youthful lobsterkins are big enough to start +in life for themselves.</p> + +<p>The coasts of British North America, as well as +many portions of the sea board of the United States, +abound in mail-clad inhabitants of many kinds. In +some localities great amusement is at times afforded by +their capture—a sort of <i>pic-nic</i> or <i>lobster frolic</i> being +organised. A boat with plenty of eatables, drinkables, +and a capacious cooking pot are provided, and long +poles with their ends split (much as the extremities of +clothes-pins are fashioned) prepared. On the boat or +skiff being propelled slowly through the shallow water, +a sharp look-out is kept on the regions below, and on the +Lobster being discovered, the split end of the pole is +lowered quietly, and with the greatest caution, until +just over the unsuspecting victim’s back, when by a +sudden downward thrust, the forceps like instrument +securely nips him, and he is brought to the surface in +spite of his claws and the pinches he inflicts on the +tough, unyielding wood. Some overhanging rock, or +pleasant nook on the shore, is usually selected as a +place in which to dine and cook the proceeds of the +Lobster hunt. The driftwood and such dry sticks and +shrubs as the neighbourhood will afford, are used as fuel +to boil the pot, and the revels proceed right joyously. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>The bays, shallows, and mouths of rivers on the coast +of Prince Edward’s Island, abound in a species of sea-weed, +known amongst the inhabitants as “<i>eel grass</i>;” +on this vast numbers of Lobsters feed as in a rich sea +garden. To these favoured hunting-grounds the Lobster-catchers +betake themselves, and by wading little more +than half-leg deep gather as many as they require. A +bushel basket has been filled in this way in less than +an hour.</p> + +<p>Like the branching growths of sub-marine life which +form the connecting link between the vegetable and +animal kingdoms, we find crustaceans, dwelling, so to +speak, on the border lands of other races, and linking +the shrimp, crab, and lobster families together; partaking +of the nature of each, but being identical +with neither: such are the so-called <i>squat lobsters</i> or +<i>Galathea</i>. Three well-marked kinds are to be met +with more or less abundantly; these are the <i>Olive squats</i> +(<i>G. squamifera</i>), the <i>scarlet squat</i> (<i>G. nexa</i>), and the +<i>painted squat</i> (<i>G. strigosa</i>); all these are of comparatively +small size, the largest or painted description +rarely exceeding three and a half inches in length. +The singular alertness of all the race renders capture +somewhat difficult. Like the lobsters they possess +extraordinary powers of vision and retrograde movement. +The horns are extremely long, and so sensitive +that the slightest touch seems to reveal at once the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>nature of an approaching object, and enables the +alarmed squat to seek a safe sanctuary between the +rock clefts, from which, he is by no means easy to withdraw.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p100" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p100.png" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The spined lobster (<i>Palinurus vulgaris</i>), <i>crawfish</i>, +<i>cray</i>, or <i>crowder</i>, will from its thorn-coated shell, long +horns, powerful nippers, and generally formidable +appearance, be familiar to most of our readers. Like +most other crustaceans the Cray delights in a home +among rugged sunken rocks, and is taken in the traps +laid down for ordinary lobsters and crabs. It not +unfrequently happens whilst line-fishing over sunken +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>reefs, or on rocky ground, that, on a bite being felt and +the line drawn in, a steady drag is felt as though a +cuttlefish had grasped the bait; on looking down into +sea beneath the boat, in all probability the Cray will be +seen in all his spined armament, coming on at the end +of the line like a sea porcupine with horns. Some +care will be needed to coax him deftly onward until the +net is well under, or your line and Cray are likely to +part company. These thorn-clad heroes, “in their +spiked armour like Egyptian <i>porke pigs</i>,” are not held +in as high esteem for the table as their more smoothly-plated +relations—their flesh being of harder texture +and of a sweet flavour is objected to by professed +lobster-eaters; still, to our taste, a well-conditioned +“<i>porke pig</i>,” the shape of a Crayfish, is by no means +to be despised. Some portions of the Pacific Ocean, +and the warm seas of the East, contain them in vast +numbers. Many spots on the coast of South America, +and the bays and inlets of the island of Juan Fernandez, +literally swarm with them; and it is to be questioned +whether Robinson Crusoe, or Man Friday either, would +have ever consented to leave that fertile and picturesque +locality if they had entertained the least idea that it +was surrounded by countless thousands of Crays in a +perfect fever of anxiety as to whose good fortune it +would be to get boiled first.</p> + +<p>Some idea may be formed of the abundance of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>animated creatures of this and other kinds to be +taken in these seas, by the following account of the +fishing to be obtained in them, given by the Hon. +F. Walpole:—“The fishing afforded the best return +for labour, and a boat might be filled in four hours +with hook and line only. Fish swarmed of every size +and colour, and seemingly of every variety of appetite, +for they took any bait. The bottom was literally lined +with Crawfish of a large size; some must have weighed +five pounds at least. There needed no hook—a piece +of anything let down on a string to the bottom was +enough; they saw it, grasped it, and kept their hold +till you had seized them by their long feelers and borne +them into the boat, where they crawled about and +extended their feelers as if in search of more bait. +The Conger eels, which were almost as numerous as +the Crawfish, were great enemies to us, for they took +up time in the catching, and their execution, which +followed immediately, was a work of some skill—Gordian +knots, twists, and all manner of wriggles being +used to evade the knife raised to slay them, and frequently +their powerful teeth enabled them to bite +through the wire and escape with hook, bait, and line. +Catching Crawfish was one of the favourite amusements +of the seamen. One man held a pole, on which +was fastened a bait thrown into the water near the +beach; one or two others stood ready, and when the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>Crawfish, allured by the bait, had approached within +attainable distance, those dogs of war pounced upon +him, and he was high and dry upon the beach before +he had even meditated a retreat. The boat-keepers in +the boats alongside used to let down pieces of net +spread on the hoops of a cask, with pieces of bait +inside them. In a few minutes these were hauled up, +and one of our simple friends appeared seated, greatly +enjoying the travelling. Sometimes two or three came +up struggling for standing room. But enough of Crawfish, +I will only add that we thoroughly enjoyed both +the catching and the eating. We had crawfish for +breakfast, crawfish for dinner, crawfish for supper, and +crawfish for any incidental meal we could cram in +between. The last I saw of my friends was with their +long feelers wreathing about, as they were borne about +Valparaiso as presents on our return.”</p> + +<p>We learn from the old authors that Apicius, after +profoundly studying the culinary art at Minturnus, in +Campania, where he feasted right royally on Crawfish, +in order, it is said, to strengthen and improve the +appetite—at length feeling that change of scene and +provender were needed, and opportunely hearing that +Craws of marvellous size and surpassing excellence +were captured on the coast of Africa, the sage knew no +rest until he had obtained a ship and had set sail for +that favoured land. The voyage proved prosperous, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>and, as might be reasonably anticipated, as the shore +was neared a sea-earned appetite of more than ordinary +intensity set in, and the philosopher’s first thoughts +rested on the delicious crustaceans he had journeyed so +far to enjoy. The dusky fishers, roused into bustle +and activity by the august arrival, soon brought the +spoils of their crawfish hunt, rejoicing no doubt at +their quick success; but the Craws were found, like +most other things when made the subject of long +anticipation, by no means equal to the exaggerated +standard, and were contemptuously sent with their +owners to the right-about, orders being given that +larger specimens might be immediately brought. On +being informed that to do so would be impossible, +Apicius at once expressed his supreme contempt for +Africa, Crawfish, and all else, ordered his pilot to attend, +and gave directions for instant departure for Italy.</p> + +<p>Pliny speaks of Crawfish of such huge dimensions, +“<i>four cubits long</i>,” that we are almost led to believe +they must have been the creation of a wild, distempered +dream rather than substantial realities.</p> + +<p>The tables of ancient Rome were often garnished +with dishes of Crawfish served with asparagus; and it +is our decided opinion that many worse things are +daily partaken of by the gourmands of this enlightened +age, notwithstanding the much-vaunted march of +improvement in cookery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span></p> + +<p>The coral reefs fringing the island of Mauritius afford +shelter to members of the family of <i>Palinurus</i>, which +in both size and splendour of colouring far excel those +taken in our seas. Some we had an opportunity of +examining when freshly caught, by the fishermen of that +fertile isle, looked so much like works of art that we +could almost fancy Pallisey, that king of potters, must +have returned to life, and that these were some of his +choicest productions. Some were of delicate sea-green +banded with white and ultra-marine blue, alternately. +Others were striped with pale yellow, black, and green, +whilst all were so highly glazed, and carried such a +brilliant polish, that we deeply regretted the perishable +nature of living things, and sighed as we reflected on +the waste of so much loveliness on the more than half-heathen +crew of Malabar coolies who grinned and chattered +round the captives, and who had no appreciation +whatever for crustacean perfection, except in association +with rice and a brass cooking-pot.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p> + + +<figure class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_p106" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_p106.png" alt=""> +</figure> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_COMMON_RIVER_CRAYFISH"> + THE COMMON RIVER CRAYFISH. + <br> + (<i>Astacus fluviatilis.</i>) + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>This little crustacean is very abundant in many of the +rivers of England, although it is by no means as general +as might be anticipated from its habits and mode +of life. Rivulets and rivers in which clear streams +flow, are its favourite resort, and the holes amongst +the roots of trees, stones, or banks beneath the water, +form snug retreats for it. It is somewhat strange that +in the western portion of England, where running +streams abound, the fresh water Cray is (except by +name) unknown. Its food consists of animal substances, +the spawn of fish, vegetable matter, the +larvæ of water insects, &c. The rich scarlet colour +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>assumed after boiling makes the Cray a great favourite +for garnishing purposes; pic-nic parties are often +formed for the sport afforded in taking them. Long +sticks or rods with cord lines, to which pieces of bait +are tied, are made use of to allure the Cray within the +reach of a small hand-net, when he is scooped out; some +enterprising anglers endeavour to throw them over their +heads without using the net, others in their anxiety to +inveigle the coquettish crustacean, slip on some slippery +tree-trunk or moss-grown stone, and pay an unwilling +visit to the home of the Crays at the bottom. +Pinched fingers and other small catastrophes serve but +to add to the general fun and hilarity of the river-side +revellers. In some of the West India Islands torchlight +expeditions of a like character are made to the +streams flowing from the hills, and the Crays lifted +out, after having been previously treated to pieces of +<i>manioc</i>-root abundantly cast in the water for them. +This substance has the property of stupefying such +shell-fish as are silly enough to eat it, and the Cray +pays the penalty of his too unsuspicious disposition. +The rivers of France are abundantly supplied with +<i>Ecrevisses</i>, as they are called in that country; enormous +numbers are eaten every day in Paris, and the other +large cities and towns of the continent. They are +prepared in various ways for the table, and the celebrated +<i>potage à la bisque</i> is made from them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span></p> + +<p>A number of methods are had recourse to for their +capture, amongst which may be mentioned the sinking +by stones, in localities known to abound with them, +rough bundles of thorn-sticks, with offal of some +description fastened up in them. The Crays, in their +attempts to obtain the dainty tit-bits, force their way +through the entangled twigs, and are unable to retreat +with sufficient speed to escape being drawn out when +the Cray-catcher hooks out his treacherous <i>fascine</i>. +Small pieces of frog are highly esteemed baits. These +are laid down in considerable numbers along the course +of the stream, and are after some time visited, and the +feasting Crays brought to bag. Some persons are +sufficiently indifferent to the nips they receive as to +insert the hand and arm beneath the roots and hollow +banks, and so drag forth their prey. There are other +methods for Cray capture, but most of them depend +on the use of bait placed in traps, much like those +used for prawns, or some contrivance where entrance is +easy and exit difficult, and it is remarkable that in every +country in the known world the same principle is taken +advantage of, in the construction of traps for fish, birds, +and animals. Whether we visit the almost unknown +chains of ponds among the gum-tree woods of Australia, +the fern-clad river-banks of New Zealand, the +great streams flowing through North-west America, or +the tangled forests bordering the jeels, nullahs, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>rivers of Central India, basket traps of various sizes +and forms, but all alike in their mode of operation, will +be found. Some we stumbled on while hunting among +the Bheels of Candeish were of elegant design,—trumpet +mouthed, and beautifully woven from the split-up fibres +of single bamboo-joints, the knot at the small end +being left to form a sort of plug-hole, through which +the bait was introduced.</p> + +<p><i>A. fluviatilis</i> shifts his shell, much in the same +manner as his salt-water cousins, and, like them, is +painfully nervous and retiring in his habits during the +hardening of the new case with which nature in due +time protects him. Like the sea lobster, the Cray is +wonderfully prolific, producing as many as 100,000 +eggs in the breeding season, which are carried securely +about for some time by the parent fish tucked up under +the abdomen, and defended by the lateral rows of legs +and claws. A notion prevails in some localities that +the goodness of water may be surely tested by boiling +a Cray in it, when, if the quality is all that could be +wished, the colour of the Cray should be clear and bright +red; whereas, if impure, the fish is said to remain dull +and lustreless. This, although a very old opinion, +appears much on a par with the idea, equally old, that +a frog in a tea-kettle would prevent the water therein +contained from ever boiling. We greatly fear, however, +that a good brisk fire would not only go far towards +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>dissipating the superstition, but at the same time make +it peculiarly unpleasant for the frog. It has been stated, +on good authority, that <i>A. fluviatilis</i> lives to a good old +age under favourable circumstances. Desmarest says +that it has been known to live for more than twenty +years, and that it increases in size as age advances. +We are disposed to think, however, that there must be +a limit to development far within twenty years, or we +should at times encounter some “grandfather Cray” who +would be far more pleasant to follow than to meet, at +any rate in his own element.</p> + +<p>The ancient Greeks appear, from the writings of +early historians, to have held the Cray in high esteem; +and Alexandria had the reputation for producing it of +the best quality. The Romans, too, were not behind-hand +in their appreciation of the luxury, and some +quaint ingredients are mentioned by the old writers as +being requisite to complete the operations connected +with its preparation. After being boiled, we are told +that the Cray was eaten flavoured with <i>cummin</i> and +seasoned with pepper, <i>alisander</i>, parsley, dried mint, and +more cummin ground and mixed with honey, vinegar, +and garum, with some liquid perfume. Bosc informs +us that “Crayfishes can be preserved several days, not +too warm, in baskets with some fresh grass, such as the +nettle, or in a bucket with three-eighths of an inch of +water. If there were enough water in it to cover them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>they would die in a few moments, because their great +consumption of air does not allow them to live in water +unless it is continually renewed.” The strange, mysterious +waters flowing through the mammoth caves of +Kentucky contain, amongst other wonders, considerable +numbers of these interesting creatures; and we have +recently been favoured with a sight of two specimens +of remarkable size and beauty of form brought from the +interior of Venezuela.</p> + +<p>Although neither crab, shrimp, or lobster, the bold and +adventurous diver as a “submarine armour-clad,” holds +a conspicuous position, as with helmet of proof, and +ponderous, metal-soled boots, he plunges fearlessly +beneath the wave, and prosecutes his researches “full +fathoms five,” amongst the strange, weird fastnesses +and cavernous depths of the deep sea. Huge and +terrible as he with his eyes of glass, and India-rubber +skin, must appear to the lesser inhabitants of the +ocean’s realms, there are “Tritons amongst the minnows,” +who fear him not, and would think little of +making a meal of him, in spite of his crystalline eyes +and indigestible equipment. The records of the voyage +of H.M.S. <i>Fawn</i> serve to show that the human +“armour-clad,” when submarine in his occupations, is +by no means “Monarch of all he surveys.” “The +gunner of the <i>Fawn</i>, being a very expert diver, was +employed to recover the treasure from the Peninsular +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>and Oriental Company’s ship <i>Ava</i>, wrecked a few years +ago on the coast of Ceylon. Having, in a gutta-percha +dress, made his way into the saloon, he was busily +searching for the bullion, when, to his horror, he saw a +huge ground shark come sailing in at the door. With +great presence of mind he lay motionless on the locker, +and watched it silently and quietly cruising about. +One can well imagine his feelings when he saw its cold +green eyes fixed upon him, and felt it pushing against +the leaden soles of his boots, and rubbing against his +dress, the slightest puncture in which would have been +certain destruction. About ten minutes of suspense +were thus passed, which must have seemed an age, +during which the monster came back twice or thrice to +have another look at him. Mr. Pound’s courage and +coolness were at length rewarded by seeing him steering +his way back as he came. Afterwards, Mr. Pound +always armed himself with a dagger when he went +down to the wreck, from which he recovered altogether +22,000<i>l.</i>, having spent some 850 hours under water. +He had also some narrow escapes at times from the +opening and shutting of the iron plates of the ship as +they worked with the roll of the sea. The air-pipe +was twice severed from his helmet, but fortunately, +slackening it warned the people above to lose no +time in rescuing him from his perilous position.”</p> + +<p>One is almost tempted to envy the cunning, miserly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>old crabs, who have it all their own way down amongst the +branching coralines and vase-shaped sponges, and crawl +to their very hearts’ content over the piles of sunken +treasures scattered there. Treasures are there, too, not +of man’s garnering, growing like rich sea-flowers beneath +the waves. The sea feathers, or <i>plume corals</i>, are +examples of these, and are found sprouting, like ocean +fern-leaves, from the rock cave’s ledges, far down in the +deep still water between the reefs; and we shall see +how a love for the beauty of Nature’s handiwork not +only led to the crabs being deprived of their hoard, +but, favoured by good fortune, proved a guide to wealth, +station, and ultimately, nobility. Thus goes the story, +which, unlike many of a somewhat similar kind, has +the priceless advantage of being literally true. In the +year 1650, one Phipps, a blacksmith, of Pemaquid, in +New England, was blessed with a son, who was christened +William, and who in very early life manifested +much ingenuity and a passion for ship-building. Very +shortly after the term of his apprenticeship to a shipwright +had expired, he built a vessel for himself, which +he navigated in person; and hearing it reported that a +Spanish ship, freighted with bullion, had sunk in the +neighbourhood of the Bahamas, he at once betook himself +to the scene of the disaster, and made the most +determined but fruitless efforts to recover the lost gold. +Treasure-seeking now appears to have become a fixed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>occupation with Captain Phipps. In the year 1683 we +find him employed by the English Government to discover +another lost ship (also Spanish), of immense +value. This he failed in accomplishing, but became +convinced that perseverance in the search would be +ultimately crowned with success. For five years he +was unsuccessful in his urgent applications for funds to +renew his investigations, when the Duke of Albemarle, +the then Governor of Jamaica, not only fully credited +the assurances of Captain Phipps, but, better still, furnished +him with ample means and fitting apparatus for +his new expedition. How he reached the scene of his +labours—how every lagune and gulf between the reefs +was searched in vain, until hope well-nigh vanished—we +need not dwell on here. No wreck could be discovered, +and he had almost determined to abandon the +undertaking in despair, when, after a day of more than +ordinary fatigue and anxious exploration amongst the +coral rocks, his boat’s crew were rowing him slowly +and dejectedly back to his ship, one of the sailors +directed his attention to a beautiful <i>sea feather</i>, growing +from the ledges of a sunken rock. “Alas!” said poor +Phipps, “there is a sea treasure indeed. I wish I +could get it.”</p> + +<p>One of the good-humoured black divers who accompanied +him, anxious to oblige his commander, shot +rapidly down to the coveted specimen, and just as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>rapidly returned with it, exclaiming—“<i>Feather safe, fine +feather, but plenty big cannon down where feather live.</i>” +This report, as may be readily imagined, made the sinking +heart of the poor captain leap again. Blackey was +despatched to the regions below to take another look at +matters, and after a short absence came back with the +glorious news that there were “<i>plenty big boxes too, and +lots of this</i>,”—exhibiting his dusky paws filled with +silver. Now the captain was in his true element at +last; and there lay the work he loved so well, ready cut +out for him; and he proved quite equal to the occasion, +for from that deep gulf, far down among the corals and +the Crabs, in whose custody it had quietly remained for +more than half a century, he brought to light thirty-two +tons of silver bullion, besides large quantities of +gold, pearls, and other valuables. We find that Phipps +was knighted by James II. He was appointed Sheriff +of New England, and took command of a large expeditionary +force against the French. We afterwards find +him in command of a fleet fitted out to oppose the same +enemy in Canada, and subsequently taking part in the +Border warfare of the period, as a leader of some celebrity; +and at this point of his career we bid adieu to +Sir James Phipps and the happy-chance discovery which +led him on to greatness.</p> + +<p>There is yet another little crustacean, rather a delver +than a diver, well known to every sea-side visitor. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>This is the Sea Flea, or Sand Hopper, as it is popularly +called, and because of its saltitary powers, young +ladies in dainty boots keep at a most respectful distance +from the scene of its performances, and rival the +hopper himself in the agility with which they bound +off on unwittingly invading the haunts of that nimble +little gentleman. Lift but a tuft of half-dried weed, +fragment of stranded wreck, stone, or tenantless shell, +and up leap a whole army of Hoppers, like as many +peas on a drum-head. They appear more vegetarian +in their tastes than most other of their crustacean +family connexions, subsisting mainly on the various +weeds found scattered among the rocks. Fish and +many other marine creatures feed voraciously on them, +and the Cornish chough, in his black satin coat and +scarlet stockings, picks them with marvellous dexterity +with his coral-coloured, forceps-like beak, from amongst +the tangled web of sea-cords and ocean-ribbons in +which they delight to harbour. The poor, frost-beset +starling, too, when the white snow lies thick on the +pastures, and the pitiless north-east wind whistles +down the vale, finds amongst the oar-weed heaps cast +up at high-tide level, Sand Hoppers enough to prolong +his wee-bird life till milder winds and better +times smile, on the land and him. So even the most +pigmy atoms of creation perform their allotted parts in +the great plan which an all-wise Providence has so +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>wisely laid down for created beings, and we become +lost in wonder, at the marvellous and inscrutable laws +brought to bear in its furtherance. The saltness of +the sea, the metal iodine residing in its countless +myriads of weeds, the migrations of the mighty hosts +of fish, the ebbing and flowing of the tide, the labours +of the coral insect, the strange sponge-growths, trade +winds, and warm currents setting in from one region to +another, all evince the operation of laws, far too vast +for man, with all his boasted power, to penetrate or +understand. As there are “sermons in stones, voices in +running brooks, and good in everything,” so is there +beauty and evidence of Divine foresight to be found +under every fragment of drift-wood, cast between the +rocks; each upturned stone discloses some wonder of +creation, and as the mighty billows thunder on the +strand and carry in their backward rush the beds of +ever-wearing shingle, fretting and grinding with them, +frail humanity can but look from nature, up to nature’s +God, and feel its own utter insignificance.</p> + +<p>The ocean’s broad expanse, when lulled in calm +tranquillity, is no less a subject for pleasant and profound +meditation, and he who seeks a field for peaceful +reflection may find it by drifting away on the unruffled +bosom of the deep; and as the bark bears him slowly +onward, Montgomery’s lines will not fail to strike his +memory:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Sky, sun, and sea, were all the universe,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The sky, one blue interminable arch</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Without a breeze, or wing, or cloud; the sun</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sole in the firmament, but in the deep</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Redoubled; where the circle of the sea,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Invisible with calmness, seems to lie</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Within the hollow of a lower heaven.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>We could willingly thus gossip on, and prolong the +journey on which our companion the reader has so far +accompanied us, but all rambles amongst the rocks, or +elsewhere, must have an end; our journey in search of +crustacean lore can be no exception to this stern law, +and we bid our fellow-pilgrim a cordial adieu until we +meet again to ramble forth, staff in hand, cockle-shell +in hat, and wallet on shoulder, to gather fresh stores of +some other lore, so lavishly scattered along the pleasant +paths where Nature, in all her goodness and beauty, +beckons us to follow.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX"> + INDEX. + </h2> +</div> + +<table style="width:75%;"> +<tr> +<td><a href="#IX_A">A</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_B">B</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_C">C</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_D">D</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_E">E</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_F">F</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_G">G</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_H">H</a></td> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#IX_J">J</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_K">K</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_L">L</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_M">M</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><a href="#IX_N">N</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_O">O</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_P">P</a></td> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#IX_R">R</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_S">S</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_T">T</a></td> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#IX_V">V</a></td> +<td><a href="#IX_W">W</a></td> +<td></td> +<td><a href="#IX_Y">Y</a></td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<ul class="index"> + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_A">A.</li> + + <li class="indx">Anemone, the, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Anthozoa</i>, the living blossoms of the ocean, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Apicius, his love of crabs, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his journey to Africa in search of crayfish, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Apus productus</i>, his curious habits, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Australia, a land of contradictions, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Ava</i>, wreck of the, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">diving for the treasure, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_B">B.</li> + + <li class="indx">Baby Crabs, their curious forms and habits, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Baits, different kinds of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Bêche-de-mer</i>, the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in great request in China, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Billingsgate Market, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">number of lobsters brought to, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Birgus latro</i>, the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his habits, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Bismuth, change of colour effected by, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Boat’s creeper, use of the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Boiling of crabs, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on the change of colour during the process, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Bopyrus crangorum</i>, a parasite crustacean, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Burrowing crabs, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_C">C.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cancer of the Zodiac, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">representation of the, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">depicted in heraldic devices, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Cancer dentatus</i>, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Cancer pagurus</i>, the edible crab of the shops, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Cape pigeons,” <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Cape salmon,” <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Cardium exignum</i>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Chads, capture of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Chemistry, judgments created by, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cherry of Australia, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cochineal bug, colour produced by the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cocoa-nut eating crab, the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Colour, change of, in boiling crabs, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Colours produced by different agencies, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Columbus, anecdote of, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Conger eels, their habits, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Coral-formed islands of the South Seas, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Coral reefs, marine creatures of the, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cork-float, use of the, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crabbe, the poet, lines from, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crabbers, the professional ones, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crab-fishing, account of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">materials to be provided, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">by juveniles, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">to be pursued at very low tides, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crab-hook, use of the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crab-hunting expedition, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crab-pots, or baskets for capturing crabs, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of great utility, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crab-sausages, the Roman method of preparing, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crab whelks, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crabs, historical notices of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the “Cancer” of the ancients, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the baby crabs, or <i>Zoëa</i>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>:</li> + <li class="isub1">internal economy as curious as his external skeleton, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his liver an odd organ, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his lungs or gills, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the shell-shifting process of, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his unenviable position between the loss of his old shell and the secret of a new one, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the large edible crab of the shops, the most important member of the crab family, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the various methods by which crabs can be taken, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the hooks and implements in general use, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the use of the gut-knot, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a great number taken with the crab-hook, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">methods of using it, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">tenacity of their grip, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">how the haunts of the crab are discovered, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their pugnacity, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">judgment required to select a good crab for table, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">how to discover the sexes, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">proper mode of boiling, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the change of colour during the process, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">crab-fishing of juveniles, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the harbour or shore crab, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the swimming crab, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the velvet swimming crab, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">spider crabs, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hermit crabs, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">crab-whelks, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">pea-crabs, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">contained in the Philippine Island sponge, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">small crabs in the shells of the great silk-yielding mussel, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Pinna muricata</i>, <a href="#Page_40">40-42</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the burrowing crabs, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the great cocoa-nut eating crab, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">excellent oil produced by, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">crab-hunting expeditions, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the land crab, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">termination of the spawning season, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their cunning and activity, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their quaint proceedings among the Mahratta jungles, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the genus <i>Thelphusa</i> and its habits, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the sand crab, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Gelasimus</i>, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the king crab, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">humorous anecdote of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">crab-life on the coasts of Japan, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on the coasts of Tasmania, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on the Chilian coasts, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Chinese crab, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the various and general species, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the goat crab, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Parthenope horrida</i>, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Dromia lator</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Echinocerus cibarius</i>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Pilumnus nespertilis</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the <i>Planes minutus</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the floating crabs, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Southern Seas inhabited by legions of crabs, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">modes of catching them, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crawfish of America, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cray-fish, or craw-fish, artificially propagated, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its natural habits, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fishing for, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Walpole’s account of, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">journey of Africans in quest of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">huge dimensions of, as recorded by Pliny, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">tables of ancient Rome often garnished with, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the common one of rivers, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its great abundance, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its natural habits, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">various methods for capturing them, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">shifts his shell, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wonderfully prolific, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">held in high esteem by the Greeks and Romans, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Creepers, use of the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crustaceans, their shell-shifting process, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of the deep, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the principal food of the salmonidæ, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">endless types of, in the Southern and Eastern Seas, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their monstrous size and strength, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">troughs for hatching, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their proximity to other races, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cuffee’s attack on the land crabs, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cup-shrimps, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cuttle-fish, the, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Cyamus ceti</i>, the, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_D">D.</li> + + <li class="indx">Diver, fearful incident connected with the, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Dredges for shrimping, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Dress for shrimping, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Dromia lator</i>, the, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_E">E.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Echinocerus cibarius</i>, the, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Eel-basket, how constructed, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Eel-grass, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Euplectella</i>, the, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_F">F.</li> + + <li class="indx">Feejee Islands, affection of a chief for a little midshipman, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fairy shrimp, the, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fiddler crab, the, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fish, hooking of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fish-hooks, how to manage them, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fishing, implements proper for, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fishing leads, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fishing-tackle, of great utility, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Floating crabs, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Float-line, mackerel-fishing with the, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Flower-basket of the Philippine Islands, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its curious shape and texture, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Frame-reel, use of the, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_G">G.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Gelasimus</i>, a genus of crab, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his curious habits, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Goat crab, the, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gray, Dr., on Venus’s flower-basket, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Greenland whale, fed by shrimps, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gut-knot, use of the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_H">H.</li> + + <li class="indx">Half-hitches, use of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Hand-line fishing, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Harbour crab, the, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Hermit crabs, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Hooking of fish, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Hoop-net, the, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_J">J.</li> + + <li class="indx">Japan, crustacean life on the coasts of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_K">K.</li> + + <li class="indx">Keer-drag, for shrimping, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Killick, use of the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">King-Crab, of the Eastern Seas, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_L">L.</li> + + <li class="indx">Land crabs, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their extraordinary march towards the sea, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their return after the spawning season, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">attack on, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Landing-net and gaff, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Leads for fishing, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Leucosia urania</i>, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Liver of the crab, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lobster-fishing, its great importance, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lobster pigment, soluble in spirits of wine, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lobster season, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lobster-shell green, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lobsters, historical notices of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their powers of vision, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">modes of capturing them, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their prolific nature, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">plans for artificial fecundation, and apparatus for, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">numbers of brought to Billingsgate Market, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">large importation of, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their popularity extends to all parts of the world, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">strange use of them during the Indian war, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">shifting of their shells, when they become unfit for human food, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their care of offspring, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">abundant on the coasts of British North America, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">captured by pic-nic parties, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the spined lobster, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the crayfish variety, <a href="#Page_100">100-102</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">swarms of, in the South American Seas, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fishing for, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">found on the coral reefs of the Mauritius, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(See <i>Crayfish</i>.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Loop slip, use of the, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lucky stones, anecdote of the, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_M">M.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mackerel-fishing, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Macrocheira-kœmpferi</i>, the, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mauritius, the coral reefs of, the great resort of Crayfish, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mauve dresses, &c., tincture imparted to the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Medusidæ</i>, family of the, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Mithraculus coronatus</i>, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Mytilus edulis</i>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_N">N.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Neptunus pelagicus</i>, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Nets for shrimping, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Nets for shrimp-catching, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Nut crab, the, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">anecdote of the, <i>ib.</i></li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_O">O.</li> + + <li class="indx">Ocean, its broad expanse, a subject for profound meditation, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Oceanus crucifer</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Opossum of the shrimp family, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fed on by the whale, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Ou-Ou</i>, the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his habits, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Oyster-knife, Roman, found near Cirencester, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <i>note</i>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_P">P.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pagurus, the, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Parthenope horrida</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pea-crab, the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Phipps, Captain, anecdote of, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his treasure-seeking adventures, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his important discoveries, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">knighted by James II., <i>ib.</i></li> + + <li class="indx">Pic-nic parties for lobster-fishing, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Pilumnus nespertilis</i>, the, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pinna, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a shell-fish, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">lines on, by Oppiannus, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">different species of the, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Pinnotheres</i>, varieties of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Planes minutus</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Plume corals, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pole net for shrimping, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Porcellana longicornis</i>, the, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pouting, capture of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Prawns, historical notices of, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">capture of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their aquatic haunts, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">catching of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their estimated value, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">an excellent bait for salmon, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of very large size in the Carribean Sea, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">parasite on the carapace of, <i>ib.</i></li> + <li class="isub1">(See <i>Shrimp</i>.)</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_R">R.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rag-worm, use of, as a bait, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Reels, use of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Robins of the United States, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rod-fishing, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rods useful in fishing, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Romans, crabs appreciated by the, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Round plait prepared salmon line, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_S">S.</li> + + <li class="indx">Salmon-trip, how constructed, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sand-crab, the, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sand hopper, its natural habits, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sand raiser, the, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sand-shrimp, the, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sea fishing-tackle, of great utility, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sea-flea, its natural habits, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Sepia</i>, or cuttle-fish, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Serpent orders of the Indian Seas, lines on the, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shark, fearful visit of the, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shell-shifting process of crabs, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its difficulties and discomforts, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shell, the inhabitants often dispossessed, and occupied by another, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shore-crab, the, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shrimp-fisheries for the supply of London and other markets, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shrimps, historical notices of, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">often confounded with prawns, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">named the “Sand-raiser,” <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their cunning, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">contrivances for catching them, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">materials and implements for catching them, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">dress for, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">advantage to be taken of low tides, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hoop-net used for taking them, <i>ib.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fisheries for, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">enormous quantities of, consumed in London, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the endless variety of, yielded by the Indian and Chinese Seas, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and also by lakes, ponds, and streams, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the fairy shrimp, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(See <i>Prawns</i>.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Silk-worm gut, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Silk-yielding mussel, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Skeleton of the crab, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Slugs, value of in the Chinese market, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Slug-hunters, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Smelts, capture of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Soldier crabs, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">South Seas, coral-formed islands of the, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Southern Seas, inhabited by legions of crabs, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Spawning season of the land-crabs, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Spider crabs, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Squat lobsters, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Swimming crabs, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_T">T.</li> + + <li class="indx">Table, selection of a thoroughly good crab for the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Thelphusa fluviatilis</i>, a genus of crab, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">religions anciently connected with the, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Traps for catching crabs, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Traveller blocks, use of the, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Trepang of the Southern Seas, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">process of boiling, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Troughs for hatching crustacea, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Trout-hooks, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_V">V.</li> + + <li class="indx">Velvet swimming crab, the, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Venus’s flower-basket, of the Philippine Islands, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its curious texture, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_W">W.</li> + + <li class="indx">Walpole’s account of fishing for crayfish, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Whelk-shells, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Whiting, capture of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst" id="IX_Y">Y.</li> + + <li class="indx">Yoke-lines used in shrimping, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> +</ul> + + +<p class="center p4">R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, DREAD STREET HILL.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<div class="transnote"> + <p class="ph2"> + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + </p> + + +<p>Obvious typos and missing characters corrected. However, the following +have been left unchanged from the original: author’s spelling of +“hybernation”, “Macrocheira-kœmpferi”; extra closing bracket on <a href="#Page_57">page 57</a>.</p> + +<p>The text on <a href="#Page_74">page 74</a>, which describes the illustration “<a href="#i_p075">The Dredge</a>”, has +incorrectly referred to part A on the illustration with a lowercase “a”.</p> + +<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation retained.</p> + +<p>A jump-table has been added to the beginning of the <a href="#INDEX">index</a> for convenience.</p> + +<p>Missing punctuation in index corrected.</p> + +<p>The positions of some illustrations were moved to enhance readability. +Page numbers from the original <a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">list of illustrations</a> have been retained.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77735 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/77735-h/images/cover.jpg b/77735-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew 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+This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9dbb399 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #77735 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77735) |
