Brown bacon in 4 qt stew pot or Dutch oven. Add onion and saute until yellow. Add potatoes and 1 qt water, cooking 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, pickling spice, bay leaves, lemon, cooking 5 more minutes. Add crabs and 1 qt water or more if necessary, to cover crabs, and cook about 20 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and Tabasco to taste. Since picking out crab meat at the table is a messy matter, it is neater for the cook to do this, returning just the meat to the chowder. This dish is improved by allowing to stand and reheating at serving time. From "Pirate's Pantry" formatted by Mary Dishongh Bowles.