CHAPTER XL 

 How TO MAKE A CROW-FOOT DREDGE OUTFIT. 



THE most common appliance that is used by pearl 

 hunters for the purpose of catching mussels is 

 the "Crow-foot Dredge." In the spring of 1897 

 this very ingenious and practical device came into use 

 and has been very popular. A view of several complete 

 outfits may be seen in Fig. 27. The dredge consists of 

 two pieces of iron gas pipe to which are attached large 

 numbers of lines. Several hooks, each having four prongs, 

 are attached to each line. A bridle rope is attached to 

 each bar near both ends of the pipe. A larger long -rope 

 is fastened to both * bridles, thus connecting the two 

 dredges. The boat is usually eighteen or twenty feet 

 long, with a flat bottom and square ends. It is, there- 

 fore, safe to use, and will carry a good load. Four up- 

 right pieces of wood, two for each side, are fastened to 

 the gunwales of the boat and serve as standards to hold 

 the bars when they are not being dragged over the bot- 

 tom of the river. The standards should be notched on 

 the top end and should lean slightly toward the center of 

 the boat so that any mussels that drop off the hooks 

 will fall into the boat, rather than into the water. At 

 the bottom of the standards and near the top of the gun- 

 wales short notched pieces of wood are attached, which 



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