FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 97 



bottom of the boat. There must be two on a lobster-catching trip, 

 for this reason : the lobster immediately on being released from the 

 folds of the net rises on his tail, waves his massive claws in the air 

 and makes a vicious attack on the nearest man. He must coolly 

 await it, and just when the lobster is going to seize his leg quietly put 

 a foot on each claw. Hold the lobster prisoner thus while your as- 

 sistant takes a wooden peg and drives it behind the socket of the 

 claw, thus rendering this formidable weapon harmless ; let him 

 fasten the other claw in the same way and now the lobster can do 

 no harm ; by this time the net ought to be pulled up again. Where 

 there are lobsters this sport is exciting and very profitable. 



_ I rememuer one such trip I made in August years ago with a 

 neighbor. We went out from Port Morris in a little red skiff, the 

 the bottom of which had been worn completely through by the 

 rubbing of the heel against the stretchers. Through these holes the 

 clear water of the Sound bubbled up like a gushing spring, and we 

 had for bailer a cigar box lid. In the intervals of bailing we kept 

 a lookout for the boatman on shore, who was known to be the 

 possessor of a long range shot gun, and he would have used it if he 

 had known we were lobster fishing near his pots. Well, we caught 

 three lobsters and lost both anchor ropes. The lobsters made up 

 for it, however, as one of them weighed six pounds and a half, the 

 largest one I ever saw. One of the others weighed four and a half 

 pounds and the other two ; so this was not a bad score. It could 

 not be duplicated to-day, however, in the same waters, as the infernal 

 blasting over the supposed wreck of the "Hussar" has settled all 

 the Port Morris fishing. But at Pelham and from there up to 

 Maine, lobster fishing can be had in profusion. There is only one 

 more thing to be said, and that is to caution lest the heavy net pulls 

 the fisherman overboard, and moreover, put all lobsters under ten 

 and one half inches long back in their element as the law directs. 



