A lobster-quadrille is a form of dance done by the creatures of the sea. It involves throwing lobsters into the sea and going after them and doing all sorts of movements by the sea shore. There are two lines formed during the process of the lobster-quadrille. The Mock Turtle seems to cry a lot. It said in the last chapter, The Mock Turtle's Story, the Mock Turtle says that he is crying because of uglification. The "first figure" is the name of the first part of the dance known in Wonderland as the lobster-quadrille. There must be an array of parts in the dance. Alice does not finish the sentence when she says, "I've often seen them at dinn--", because she probably did not want to offend the gryphon and the Mock Turtle by saying that she eats lobsters. Seeing as how everyone is mad in Wonderland, it might be a good thing that Alice is beginning to watch what she says. The creatures and peoples of Wonderland are very unpredictable.