98 CRAB, SHRIMP, AND LOBSTER LORE. 



are coldly indifferent to tlie welfare of tlieir offspring, 

 tlie mamma Lobster keeps her little brood about her 

 ■until the youthful lobsterkins are big enough to start 

 in life for themselves. 



The coasts of British North America, as well as 

 many portions of the sea board of the United States, 

 abound in mail-clad inhabitants of many kinds. In 

 some localities great amusement is at times afforded by 

 their capture — a sort of ^:>/c-?ii!'c or lobster frolic being 

 organised. A boat with plenty of eatables, drinkables, 

 and a capacious cooking pot are provided, and long 

 poles with their ends S23lit (much as the extremities of 

 clothes-pins are fashioned) prepared. On the boat or 

 skiff being propelled slowly through the shallow water, 

 a sharp look-out is kept on the regions below, and on the 

 Lobster being discovered, the sjilit end of the pole is 

 lowered quietly, and with the greatest caution, until 

 just over the unsuspecting victim's back, when by a 

 sudder downward thrust, the forceps- like instrument 

 securely nips him, and he is brought to the surface in 

 spite of his claws and the pinches he inflicts on the 

 tough, unyielding wood. Some overhanging rock, or 

 pleasant nook on the shore, is usually selected as a 

 place in which to dine and cook the proceeds of the 

 Lobster hunt. The driftwood and such dry sticks and 

 shrubs as the neighbourhood will afford, are used as fuel 

 to boil the pot, and the revels proceed right joyously. 



