Mollusks from which the purple was obtained
The molluscs needed by the Phoenician dyers were not obtained without some difficulty. As the Mediterranean has no tides, it does not uncover its shores at low water like the ocean, or invite man to rifle them. The coveted shell-fish, in most instances, preferred tolerably deep water; and to procure them in any quantity it was necessary that they should be fished up from a depth of some fathoms. The mode in which they were captured was the following. A long rope was let down into the sea, with baskets of reeds or rushes attached to it at intervals, constructed like our
lobster-traps
or eel-baskets, with an opening that yielded easily to pressure from the
outside, but resisted pressure from the inside, and made escape, when once
the trap was entered, impossible. The baskets were baited with mussels or
frogs, both of which had great attractions for the /Purpuræ/, and
were seized and devoured with avidity. At the upper end of the rope was
attached to a large piece of cork, which, even when the baskets were full,
could not be drawn under water. It was usual to set the traps in the evening,
and after waiting a night, or sometimes a night and a day, to draw them
up to the surface, when they were generally found to be full of the coveted
shell-fish.