200 THE FT8H POT OF THE CAEIBBEAN SEA. 



handful of fisliermen — so-called — working but four or five hours out 

 of the twenty-four, and employing a system of capture — not alto- 

 gether devoid of some merit — that existed three hundred years ago, 

 for so important a factor of daily life and universal economy. And 

 yet it is so not only here but all through the beautiful islands in 

 our seas. 



The fish pots of the Caribbean Sea are made of various shapes 

 and sizes, an individual idea monopolising their construction. 

 They are made principally of the bamboo {Bamhusa vulgaris) and 

 occasionally of the wild cane, but wherever the former plant is 

 ubiquitous, and the growth of the latter partial — growing on 

 the banks of streams and in the vicinity of water, but loving 

 best the running water — nine tenths, or more, are made of bamboo. 

 But those made from the calamus are much preferred, for besides, 

 lasting nearly double the time they are exempt from the ravages 

 of the sea maggot or worm, which plays sad havoc in the spring 

 months with the bambusa. 



Fish pots are made of various shapes as well as sizes, for some 

 are square, some oblong, but generally they are shaped zig-zag like 

 the frame of Coleman's agricultural harrow. They are usually made 

 of three sizes, and the size is denoted by the number of entrances or 

 funnels, such as one funnel (suiidlest size), two funnels, and three 

 funnels (the largest). 



In building a pot the maker first of all proceeds, with the aid of 

 a matchette and strong sharp knife, to split the long canes into strips 

 of from one half to three quarters of an inch wide, and then thins 

 them down to one eighth or one twelfth of an inch thick, according 

 to the size of the pot to be made. When a sufiicient number of 

 these long pliable laths are prepared the plaiting commences and is 

 perfoi'med in a rapid manner on a level piece of ground, the plaits 

 usually resting on one knee. The width of the pot is determined 

 by the number of meshes forming the first row, and these being com- 

 pleted the work proceeds rapidly, the mesh being hexagonal and 

 from three quarters to one inch from angle to angle. The plaiting 

 invariably takes place on the spot where the bamboo grows, under 

 the shelter of an adjacent clump, or a neighbouring mango or other 

 tree. When the three or more sections of which the future pot is 

 to be composed — the top, the bottom, and the sides — are completed, 

 they are rolled into a somewhat large cylindrical parcel, and con- 

 veyed on the head to the beach of the fishing village, where they are 

 spread out out on the sand to straighten and lose the curve the tem- 

 porary rolling has produced. When quite flat and the bend or curve 

 gone the building of the pot commences. This is conducted in the 

 following manner : — First of all the long side piece or pieces are 



