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]