THE SERVICES OF LIEUT.-COLONEL FRANCIS DOWNMAN, R.A. 47 
rising of the tide. Your enclosure is to be in a bight, so that by 
running a fence across it you entirely secure it, but some have been 
made in the middle of the flat. You make it round or square as you 
think best, observing to leave three or four openings. When you see 
the tide at its height you must go carefully into the water and fasten 
all your gates, or if you will, lay a net or two at them, by which means 
the greatest quantity of fish will be taken in them, otherwise they will 
be dispersed all about your enclosure, and take up more time in 
collecting. It is almost incredible the number of fish that may be 
taken by this means, and as we frequently had more than could be 
used in one day, the remainder were put into crawls which we had 
made for that purpose. 
We likewise caught fish here with pots made of wicker, indeed this 
is the general method used by the French, for it needs little attention, 
no more than to visit them every morning. The fish pots are laid in 
deep water, being sunk with a stone and attached by a rope to a small 
buoy. The best fish at this place, I think, is the rock cod. Another 
agreeable amusement is the striking the craw fish, which grow to a vast 
size; I speak within bounds when I say I have seen them of 20 lbs. 
weight. Another method was to go in a boat or canoe, with a dart, 
among the coral rocks that surrounded every one of the little islands. 
The water is so excessively clear that you may discover anything at the 
depth of eight or nine fathoms, but the craw fish are generally found 
at four or five feet in the cavities of the rocks, and were very easily 
taken. They are of the nature of the lobster, but I think their meat 
more delicate. The oyster here is not to be found on the ground as 
they are in other countries. The only places I could find them in were 
up the lagoons, or in ponds, growing on the branches of the mangroves, 
or on any other timber that was near the water’s edge. They adhere so 
strongly to the wood that you are obliged to use a hatchet to get them off. 
I have found them on stones and rocks likewise, but they are much 
smaller than those that come from the trees. 
Besides these diversions, you may pass your time exceedingly agree¬ 
ably in observing and collecting the other curious or extraordinary 
productions of the sea. Had I at this time been sensible of the 
attention that is paid to shells, I might at this place have made a most 
admirable assortment, for the shores of these little islands are covered 
with an innumerable quantity and a very great variety. Among these 
pleasant little isles and in the harbour of Fort George, I spent a good 
deal of my time. A small canoe I had served me for all these purposes 
and in this I have some times gone to Petit Bourg, though when the 
wind blows even a little there is a disagreeable channel or two to pass. 
The harbour of Fort George is the largest and most secure of any that 
I ever saw or heard of ; it is entirely land locked, and no wind that 
blows can effect any ship that is in it. The entrance into it is very 
narrow, between some rocky islands and Hog island, directly opposite 
the fort. The depth of water is about 23 or 24 feet. About a mile 
and a half within the harbour is a little village, called by the French, 
