I02 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



Various crabs, crayfish, and prawns are regularly col- 

 lected, and eaten or sold as food by the natives of India. 

 All the species thus used are, however, caught in lagoons 

 or fresh-water lakes, with the exception of some land-crabs. 

 Prawns in Madras are usually avoided by Europeans, as 

 they are mostly caught in the river Cooum, which is little 

 else than a common sewer. Some of the crabs are 

 pleasant to eat, but not always safe. Among those eaten 

 are Lttpa sangidloneuta, Desm., and L. Tranquebarica^ 

 Edwards, and Thelpkusa Leschenaultii. 



Crayfish and lobsters are very abundant on the west 

 coast of South America. At Juan Fernandez they are 

 found in such large quantities that the fishermen have no 

 greater trouble to take them than to strew a little meat or 

 bait upon the shore, and when they come to devour it, as 

 they do in immense numbers, to turn them on their backs 

 with a stick. By this simple method many thousands are 

 taken annually ; and the tails, which are in high estima- 

 tion, are dried and sent to Chilca. 



At Marennes, in France, the fishery for shrimps brings 

 in a return of £^oo a year. 



The British Shrimp Fishery. — Shrimping is pursued 

 extensively on many of our sandy coasts. 



The chief occupation of the Leigh fishermen is catching 

 shrimps. This they do throughout the summer months. 

 The smaller boats continue to catch them during the 

 winter ; but the larger vessels, when the demand for 

 shrimps falls ofi", go farther away to sea, hand and long 

 lining for cod, or fit out with stow-boat gear for catching 

 sprats, or go trawling. They fish during winter about the 

 Swin, the Barrow Deeps, the Waleet, and other places, 

 remaining at sea for weeks together ; but in the summer 

 their practice is to go out one tide and return the next ; 



