LESSON XXXIV.
A FISHING PARTY.
Did you ever go fishing? Did you fish with a rod and line? Or, did you sit on a pier and let your line drop into the water from your hand? Or,did you go out with the boats and see the men throw a net into the water?
There are many ways of fishing, and now I shall tell you of some queer little fishers and their ways. Why did you want to catch fish? Oh, just for fun!
My little fishers fish for food, and they eat their fish without any cooking. Their fish are so small that you cannot see them without the help of a glass that magnifies.
A Fishing Party.
A Fishing Party.
I saw a fishing party to-day. There were twenty fishers in it. They were all dressed in white coats. They all sat on one stone.
“What a big stone!” you cry. You had better say, “Oh, what little fishers!” For, to tell you the truth, I covered the whole party up with one of my hands!
Was this a fairy fishing party? No; it was a barnacle fishing party. I will tell you about it.
The sun shone on the water, the sea was still, and the tide was slowly going out. It was half-low tide. A gray rock lay in the water. The water was yet about two or three inches above the top of the rock.
On this rock were about twenty stemless barnacles, clean, white, and acorn-shaped. They were of the size of small acorns. You must know that barnacles grow. They are of many sizes. Someare the size of a small glove-button. Others are of the size of a small acorn, or of the end of your little finger.
As I looked at these twenty little fishers, the plates of the shells were opened a little. Out of the top of each shell came a fine little plume, like five or six tiny feathers.
This plume waved up and down in the water. It seemed to open and shut gently, as you would open and shut your hand.
Every now and then this little plume was drawn quite back into the shell. In a minute out it came again and waved as before. What did all this mean?
It meant that the barnacleswere having a fishing party. They were catching their dinner while the tide was over their shells. Mr. Crab gets his dinner at low tide, and hides at high tide. Mr. Barnacle fishes and eats at high tide. At low tide he shuts his shell house and clings to his place. He is waiting for the tide to come up and cover him once more.
When Mr. Barnacle opened and shut this fine plume, it was his net, or his set of lines with which to fish little live creatures from the water. He tangles his prey (or food) up in his fine plumes.
Among the things he catches are tiny crabs, too small for the naked eye to see.
When the plume net is full, he draws it into his shell. Then he empties it into his mouth. After this he puts his plume out of his house once more, to fish for other things. In the meantime, he feeds on what he has taken. He has no pantry in which to store things, as Mr. Crab has.
Near this fishing party on the stone, drifted a log. On the under side of the log were some stem barnacles. They were fishing too. They fished in the same way, and for the same kind of things.
They opened their shells, pushed out a lovely plume, and this pretty thing caught food in its meshes.
Does their net never break and need to bemended as the fisherman’s net does? No doubt, if it does, a new piece will soon grow. What is his net? It is Mr. Barnacle’s feet. If any of them are lost or hurt others will come, just as Mrs. Crab gets new legs when some are gone. Notice these tiny legs. They look very like a cluster of long fingers or toes. He uses them to fish with. For what else should he use them? He never walks nor swims.