102 CKAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. 



animated creatures of this and other kinds to be 

 taken in these seas, by the following account of the 

 fishing to be obtained in them, given by the Hon. 

 r. Walpole : — " The fishing afforded the best return 

 for labour, and a boat might be filled in four hours 

 with hook and line only. Fish swarmed of every size 

 and colour, and seemingly of every variety of appetite, 

 for they took any bait. The bottom was literally lined 

 with Crawfish of a large size ; some must have weighed 

 five pounds at least. There needed no hook — a piece 

 of anything let down on a string to the bottom was 

 enough ; they saw it, grasped it, and kept their hold 

 till you had seized them by their long feelers and borne 

 them into tl e boat, where they crawled about and 

 extended their feelers as if in search of more bait. 

 The Conger eels, which were almost as numerous as 

 the Crawfish, were great enemies to us, for they took 

 up time in the catching, and their execution, which 

 followed immediately, was a work of some skill — Gor- 

 dian knots, twists, and all manner of wriggles being 

 used to evade the knife raised to slay them, and fre- 

 cpiently their powerful teeth enabled them to bite 

 through the wire and escape with hook, bait, and line. 

 Catching Crawfish was one of the favourite amuse- 

 ments of the seamen. One man held a pole, on which 

 was fastened a bait throw^n into the ^Yater near the 

 beach; one or two others stood ready, and when the 



