ART. 20.] OYSTERS. 1813

be the duty of the clerk to issue said license to the said owner,
authorizing him or the said master thereof, to employ the said
vessel in the waters of Somerset county for the current oyster
catching season, subject to the provisions aforesaid, upon his
complying with all the provisions of this section; and no canoe
or other vessel shall be employed in taking oysters with scoop,
drag or dredge, within the waters of Somerset county, unless the
owner thereof shall have first obtained a license as above pro-
vided ; and the said license shall not allow or authorize the
taking or catching of oysters in any vessel over ten tons bur-
then, at any time when by the general oyster laws of this
State it may be unlawful to take or catch oysters with scoop,
scrape, drag or dredge; and if at any time hereafter the said
State law shall be changed, then it shall not be lawful to take or
catch oysters in the said vessel at any time when it shall be
unlawful to take the same under the provisions of the said State
law; and the possession of any oysters in the shell by any person
within the season that may be the closed season, under the pro-
visions of this section, on his said vessel, shall be prima, facie
evidence that the same have been caught by the person in
possession of the same contrary to the provisions of this and
the preceding section; and any person having license for any ves-
sel under this section shall also provide a number on canvas, to be
prescribed and furnished by the said clerk of the circuit court for
said county, of the same size as that required by the State law,
in red figures corresponding with the number of said license,
and shall fix the same on the same sail and on the opposite side
thereof from that required by the said State law, and keep the
said number in proper position at all times during the dredging
season; and the provisions of this section shall not apply to the
waters of Pocomoke river and sound, in which said waters it shall
be unlawful to take oysters with scoop, scrape, drag or dredge;
and such license shall not be transferable.

P. L. L., (1860,) art 19, sec. 96.

173. The person so applying for a license shall first be
required to make oath that he is a bona fide owner of the vessel
to be licensed, that he has been a bona fide citizen of the State
for one year immediately preceding said application, and six