Part 7

_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_.)