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.