WITH FISH-LINES AND NETS. 99 



quickly that for market purposes he should be 

 taken out of the car and packed in sea-weed the 

 moment he sheds. In five hours after shedding, 

 a crab, if left in water, becomes a " leather- 

 back " and of no value, comparatively speak- 

 ing. There is one man near us who, with the 

 aid of his two boys, sends to market more than 

 a hundred " soft-shells " a day in the season. 

 The artificial propagation of crabs in shallow 

 salt-water ponds has been tried here, but aban- 

 doned, owing to the regularity with which the 

 crabs devour their young when they can catch 

 them. 



Cooks seem to differ as to the right time 

 which a crab should boil. Expert opinions 

 vary from five minutes to half an hour. I am 

 inclined to think, after many experiments, that 

 twenty minutes is none too long, and that half 

 an hour's boiling does no harm. If the pail of 

 crabs is lifted to the edge of the pot of boiling 

 water, and slightly tilted, the crabs will walk to 

 their own death upon hearing the bubble of the 

 water. Thus it is pleasant to think that the 

 crab's last impressions may have been a satis- 

 faction to him ; the gurgle of water is in his 

 ears as he takes the plunge, and before he dis- 



