THE OYSTER 



(drag) generally pronounced " drudge " has been in- 

 cluded under the head of nets; but a more minute 

 description of the instrument may not be out of place 

 here. The front meshes, we saw, are composed of string, 

 and the back of stout wire. The wire meshes are linked 

 on to a slip of iron about two feet long, the " bit " ; 

 while those at the front are lashed by a cowhide thong to 

 a slip of wood similar in size to the bit, the "catch- 

 stick " ; and at either end, connecting the two, is a " side- 

 stick," half the length of it. Thus we have a deep net 

 with a rectangular opening, that will hold as much as 

 a good-sized portmanteau. The side- and catch-sticks are 

 but loosely hinged at their ends, so that the front and the 

 sides of the mouth are comparatively free in their move- 

 ments ; but each end of the bit is fixed to a bar of iron as 

 thick as a kitchen poker and a little less than three feet 

 long. These two bars, or "limbs,'* bend back till they 

 meet in a point, two and a half feet from the bit. As 

 stays to the limbs are two more bars, one running down 

 from the meeting point, halving the angle, till it joins 

 another at right angles, which connects the limbs half 

 a foot above the bit and parallel to it. All told, then, 

 you have an iron triangle, bisected from apex to base, 

 with its two sides produced till they meet a second base, 

 the bit. At its apex is a stout iron ring through which 

 the lowering rope is tied, and below this is a projection, 

 the use of which will be seen directly. 



An oyster-smack crew consists of three or, at the 

 most, four men. As soon as a good spot has been found, 

 the boat is brought round to the wind and left to look 



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