Sport is sport. But there is also the consideration of getting 

 what you go after. 



What I know about the art and practice of crabbing I learned 

 from an aged Gullah Negro on Lady's Island across from 

 Beaufort, South Carolina. My first lesson was on an abandoned 

 pierhead jutting into the Inland Waterways which wander 

 sinuously through meadow, marsh, and forest of the Carolinas. 



Uncle Henry looked dubiously at my brand-new equipment 

 and sniffed at the somewhat noisome chunk of meat which I 

 had brought along for bait. 



"Crab a clean feeduh," he explained curtly. Nothing but the 

 best quality of bacon rind for him, even at 10 cents a pound. 

 Being tough, it lasted longer and hence was just as economical. 

 It attracted the large crabs which are choosy about their vittles. 



"Lemme meat yo' line," he offered. 



Setting a noose in my ten yards of cord, he encircled a rich 

 strip of bacon rind, firmed it in, adjusted the heavy sinker, 

 designed to hold against the tide, and with an expert toss landed 

 the bait at the edge of an underwater seaweed bed. 



"Crab maybe burra inna mud," he said. "Eye stick out, watch- 

 in', waitin'. Maybe he walkin' 'roun' on he big, blue flippahs, 

 lookin' foh he breakfas'." Uncle Henry made propulsive motions 

 with his arms indicating the crustacean's mode of locomotion. 

 The blue crab is the only member of his family equipped with 

 flippers, enabling him to dart and grab with surprising swift- 

 ness. "He see dat meaty line; he ac' mighty sudden." 



Pending such action, the instructor considered my long-han : 

 died net. "Sto'-bought," he commented. 



"Yes, I got it at the store." 



"Yo' yeddy (Gullah for 'listen to') Ol' Henry. Sto' net maybe 

 good foh sto' crab. No good heah." He waved his own home- 

 made net, chicken wire pendent from a chinaberry crotch, and 

 pointed to my line, which was twitching gently. With unthink- 

 ing instinct I gave a sharp jerk. The line slackened. 



"Whoo!" said Uncle Henry in mild reproof. "Coax un; don' 

 tweak un." 



Thus warned, I tolled in the next one with extreme caution. 



156 



