330 MODERN SEA FISHING 



CHAPTER X 



LOW-WATER SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, PRAWNING, 

 AND SHRIMPING 



WE may leave for a while fish possessing backbones, ribs, and 

 other parts of great delight to osteologists, and turn our atten- 

 tion to those strange creatures which carry their skeletons on 

 their back, changing them when they grow too small, dropping 

 off a leg here or a claw there when it seemeth them good, 

 growing another in due course, and generally behaving in an 

 eccentric and altogether preposterous fashion. In short, as 

 Mr. Micawber might have said in one of his joyous bursts of 

 confidence, I refer to the lobster and the crab ; akin to which 

 are the delicate prawns and homely shrimps. 



The crab of annoying habits the sea angler will meet many 

 a time and oft ; but now we will consider him in a different 

 light as a creature destined to afford sport and food for the 

 human race, and not merely as an aggravating, bait-consuming 

 nuisance. 



A considerable volume might be written on the crabs of 

 the world. Probably the most remarkable-looking member of 

 the family is the King Crab, of Eastern seas. In general 

 appearance he resembles a round, shallow, down-turned bowl 

 with a spike sticking out from underneath it. The Malays are 

 reported to use the King Crab's tail for pointing their arrows 

 and spears, chiefly because the wound inflicted by an instru- 

 ment so tipped is considerably more unpleasant than the clean 



