108 CRA.B, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. 



A number of methods are had recourse to for their 

 capture, amongst which may be mentioned the sinking 

 by stones, in localities known to abound with them, 

 rough bundles of thorn- sticks, with ofial of some 

 description fastened up in them. The Grays, in their 

 attempts to obtain the dainty tit-bits, force their way 

 through the entangled twigs, and are unable to retreat 

 with sufficient speed to escape being drawn out when 

 the Cray-catcher hooks out his treacherous fascine. 

 Small pieces of frog are highly esteemed baits. These 

 are laid down in considerable numbers along the course 

 of the stream, and are after some time visited, and the 

 feasting Grays brought to bag. Some persons are 

 sufficiently indifferent to the nips they receive as to 

 insert the hand and arm beneath the roots and hollow 

 banks, and so drag forth their prey. There are other 

 methods for Gray capture, but most of them depend 

 on the use of bait placed in traps, much like those 

 used for prawns, or some contrivance where entrance is 

 easy and exit difficult, and it is remarkable that in every 

 country in the known world the same principle is taken 

 advantage of, in the construction of traj)s for fish, birds, 

 and animals. Whether we visit the almost imkno"\\ai 

 chains of ponds among the gum-tree woods of Aus- 

 tralia, the fern-clad river-banks of New Zealand, the 

 great streams flowing through North-west America, or 

 the tangled forests bordering the jeels, nullahs, and 



