48 THE DEEDGE. 



possession of the miglity sea. The greater the recess 

 of the tide, the more curious, varied, and abundant are 

 the creatures he discovers ; — if then any mode could 

 be devised to scrape the floor of the sea itself at differ- 

 ent depths, and to secure the materials thus collected, 

 how important might be the result. The dredge is 

 the implement that does this. It is a strong bag with 

 an iron frame around the mouth, which is dragged 

 over the sea-bottom by a rope fastened to the boat, 

 by which also it is drawn up when full. 



The rudest form of the instrument is that used for 

 procuring oysters for market. The bag is generally 

 made of iron rings linked together, and the mouth, 

 which is a four-sided frame of iron, has one of the 

 longer sides turned out to form a scraping lip. But 

 the natm'alist's dredge is an improvement upon this 

 form ; the oyster-dredge, with all the care employed 

 in heaving, will frequently tm^n over in sinking, so 

 that the unlipped side of the frame is on the ground, 

 which will not scrape. Hence we have each of the 

 two long sides of the mouth made into a scraping lip, 

 so that the instrument cannot fall wrong. Instead of 

 rings our body is made of spunyarn (a sort of small 

 rope), or fishing-line, netted with a small mesh, or, 

 which is better still, of a raw hide, (such as those 

 which the tobacconists receive from South America 

 enclosing tobacco, the hides of the wild cattle of the 

 Pampas,) cut into thongs, and netted in like manner. 

 Sometimes the bag is made of coarse sackcloth, or of 

 canvas ; but the former soon wears out, and the 

 latter is not sufficiently pervious to water ; — an im- 

 portant point ; for if there be not a free current through 



