THE OYSTER 



When at last the top ring comes above water the worst 

 of the strain is over ; to the beginner it has seemed as 

 though the rope would never end, though in reality the 

 depth is nothing as compared with deep-water fishing ; 

 the " flats " of the Thames estuary are not, as a rule, 

 covered by more than five to fifteen fathoms of water, 

 even at high tide. The use of the limbs and the little 

 iron projection the "heel" is now apparent. The final 

 pull has brought the ring well above the bulwarks ; but 

 it goes without saying that weight in water and out of it 

 are two widely different things ; out of the water a loaded 

 dredge is sometimes so heavy that only a strong man can 

 lift it; and the wet, slippery, sloping deck is not the 

 standing-ground that even he would choose for the task. 

 Instead, therefore, of lifting the catch bodily over the 

 side, the fisherman continues to haul on the rope till the 

 projecting heel hooks itself on the gunwale and he is 

 released from the strain. The rest is a mere question of 

 knack ; seizing the ring, and using the limbs as a lever, he 

 drags the iron frame over till the net rests on the gun- 

 wale, mouth towards the deck ; and by a deft twist of the 

 right limb empties the whole, then flings the dredge back 

 into the sea. 



And what a collection he has brought up from Davy's 

 locker ! Such an one as would make the mouth of a 

 naturalist water if he saw it for the first time, and as 

 might incline the curio-hunter to poke about in the heap 

 on the chance of finding treasure. A complete list of 

 the objects, other than young oysters, that appear in the 

 dredges in the course of a day would fill a page of this 



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