GULF OF MEXICO: LOUISIANA. 577 



CRABS. The mode of catching crabs is very simple ; they are picked up by hand-net or 

 scoop-net along the beaches of the outside islands, and from among the grass in the marshes. A 

 long Hue, perhaps measuring 200 fathoms, is sometimes used, to which shorter lines are attached 

 at intervals. To the end of each of these short lines is fastened a piece of bait. The long line is 

 then stretched along the water's edge and the baited lines are thrown into the water. The crab, 

 having caught hold of the bait with its claws, is pulled up softly and slowly and is lauded by means 

 of a dip- net. 



CRAWFISH. Crawfish are also picked up from among the sedge grass, along the lake and 

 canal shores and on the levees. It is said that they are very plentiful at such places, and that 

 great quantities of them can be secured without much trouble. The crawfish live in little holes in 

 the muddy banks, and, it is reported, build a sort of chimney of mud over and around the hole. 



TURTLE. Now and then the seine fishermen catch a green turtle or a " loggerhead,'' which 

 they send to market, but very few of these are caught in the year. Some few fresh-water turtles 

 are also taken, as, for example, the "mobilian" and "soft shell" and occasionally a suappiug- 

 tnrtle. 



THE NEW ORLEANS MARKET. In New Orleans there are twelve markets where fresli fish are 

 retailed. The most important of them all is the French market, for there all the fish intended for 

 distribution among the smaller-dealers are sent. The other markets are supplied from the French 

 market, but few of them do any business. They are under the control of the city, whose property 

 they are. The city rents the stalls at from 50 cents to $2 a day, dependent upon the situation of 

 the market and of the stall to be rented. The city is also responsible for the cleaning of the 

 markets after business hours. In most of the markets the fish stalls are few and in the most 

 secluded corners. In the French market, however, more space and better advantages are given to 

 the fishmongers. In the French market are two dealers Bartholomew, Tallon & Co., and Felisado 

 & Co. They each have several stands, upon which are displayed quite a large amount and variety 

 of fish on the best market days. How and whence these fish come into the hands of these dealers 

 will now be explained. The sea fish (red snapper, grouper, &c.) come by rail from Peusacola and 

 Mobile packed with ice in hogsheads. They are caught chiefly by New Orleans smackuien, who- 

 find it more profitable and satisfactory to deliver their fish in this way. The supply of these fish 

 is kept up throughout the year, but in summer the demand is not so great, and consequently less 

 are shipped. The small fish already specified and the smaller fresh-water fish come from different 

 parts of the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, where they were caught in seines and trammel-nets. 



Some fish come iced in barrels and some from the nearest points by rail without ice. Kailroads, 

 steamboats, sailing vessels, and "luggers" are all media through which these fish arrive at market. 

 Each lot comes consigned to a particular dealer, or is sent in fulfillment of a contract. Snappers 

 are sold by the fishermen at so much for a "bunch," weighing 25 pounds; bay fish at so much a 

 "hand," consisting of four small bunches, with an aggregate weight of about 20 pounds. Spanish 

 mackerel, bluefish, and other choice varieties also sell by the "baud," but at a very much higher 

 price. than the common varieties command. Pompano alone are sold by the count, or so much 

 apiece. 



Many of the fish are in a very bad condition by the time they reach the market stand, and 

 nowhere else would they be allowed to be placed on the stalls and sold, as they are day by day, to 

 people who know nothing about fish, and therefore buy ignorantly. The small fish caught in the 

 vicinity of the Mississippi marshes are really in very fine condition on the stalls, and are far superior 

 to the same class of fish found on other parts of the Gulf coast. The reason, probably, is, that on 

 the Florida coast, for instance, these small fish cannot find convenient food and are much worried 

 37 GTS, F 



