SPONGES 58 
seen the heavy shaft, often thirty feet long, must be raised perpendicularly and 
dropped with a precision on the side of the sponge where the current flows 
against it. ‘This must be accomplished in a swiftly flowing tide, and the 
sponge hooked without a single mistake, in spite of the refraction caused by 
the water. Although I have had considearble practice in gathering sponges, 
and other animals in water ten or fifteen feet deep, I have found that it is utter- 
ly impossible for me to handle a sponge heok successfully at greater depths. 
In spite of every effort, the pole was swept forward by the flowing water be- 
fore I could get the hook to the bottom at the desired point. 
As soon as the boat is filled with spenges, or night comes, the cargo is ta- 
ken to the vessel and threwnen deck. When a sufficient quantity has accu- 
mulated on deck, the sponges, now dead and ina partly decaying condition, 
are transferred to the hole. As has already been related, living sponges have a 
very disagreeable odor, and this is greatly increased when the sponges dic. 
Thus the stench which arises from a sponging vessel is so intense that it can 
be perceived when one is passing a long distance away, especially to the lee- 
ward. . 
On Saturday, no matter whether the vessel be full of sponges or not, she 
sails for the nearest land, anchoring near what is. known as a sponge camp. 
‘This camp is usually situated at a point near the entrance ofa lagoon or bayou. 
Here in the sea in a place where the tide flews into a water course, two or more, 
of a kind of pen, made of wicker work are erected. These are known as sponge 
crawls, and in them the sponges taken during the week are placed. 
These crawls being situated at the entrance of tide ways are swept four 
times a day by the incoming and outgoing tides. This nearly constant flow 
