CHAV. ix.] CRAY-FISH. 397 



boiled for the London or other markets. The shrimpers are 

 rather ill-used by the trade. Of the many thousand gallons 

 sent daily to London, they only get an infinitesimal portion of 

 the money produce. The retail price in London is four shil- 

 lings per gallon, out of which the producer is understood to get 

 only threepence ! I have been told that the railways charge at 

 the extraordinary rate of 9 a ton for the carriage of this 

 delicacy to London. It is an interesting sight to watch the 

 shrimpers at their work, and such of my readers as can obtain a 

 brief holiday should run down to Leigh, or some nearer fishing 

 place, where they can see the art of shrimping carried on in 

 all its picturesque beauty. 



The fresh- water cray-fish, a very delicate kind of miniature 

 lobster, abundantly numerous in all our larger streams, and 

 exceedingly plentiful in France, may often be seen on the 

 counters of our fishmongers ; as also the sea cray-fish, which is 

 much larger in size, having been known to attain the weight 

 of ten or twelve pounds, but it is coarser in the flavour than 

 either the crab or lobster. The river cray-fish, which lodges 

 in holes in the banks of our streams, is caught simply by 

 means of a split stick with a bit of bait inserted at the end. 

 The fresh-water cray-fish has afforded a better opportunity for 

 studying the structure of the Crustacea than any of the salt- 

 water species, as its habits can be more easily observed. 

 The sea cray-fish is not at all plentiful in the British 

 Islands, although we have a limited supply in some of our 

 markets. 



There has hitherto been a fixed period for the annual 

 sacrifice to crustacean gastronomy. As my readers are already 

 aware, there is a well-known time for the supplying of oysters, 

 which is fixed by law, and which begins in August and ends 

 in April. During the r-less months oysters are less wholesome 

 than in the colder weather. The season for lobsters begins about 

 March, and is supposed to close with September, so that in 



