35 8 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



gaily with its bright flags and pennons in beautiful relief 

 from the low marshy soil by which it is surrounded. Then, 

 too, the dredgers, in their picturesque costume, add greatly 

 to the gay appearance of the place, whilst some seventy or 

 eighty vessels lying in the offing bespeak the importance 

 of the oyster traffic between it and the great Metropolis. 

 What the Lucrine was to the citizen of Rome is the estuary 

 of the Medway with the Swale to the citizen of London. 



Whitstable was a fishing-town of note in the reign of 

 Henry VIII., and was called in ancient records "North- 

 wood." Leland, in his "Itinerary," thus describes it : 

 "Whitstable is upward yunto Kent, a ii miles or more be- 

 yound Faversham, on the same shore, a great fisher-towne 

 of one paroche, belonging to Plaze College, in Essex, and 

 yt standeth on the se-shore. Ther about they dragge for 

 oysters," 



What Whitstable is now, in regard to its oyster fishery, 

 is described in the present chapter, and although I cannot 

 say that the subject is exhausted herein, I am led to hope 

 that the account given will furnish the reader with a good 

 idea of its wealth, importance, and, I may add, its good 

 fortune, for its oyster beds have been so very prosperous as 

 to have attained the name of the " happy fishing-grounds," 



Before, however, entering upon relative details let us 

 take a hasty glance at the economy of an English oyster 

 farm . 



"A LARGE oyster-farm requires a great deal of careful 

 attention, and several people are necessary to keep it in 

 order. If the farm be planted in a bay where the water is 

 very shallow, there is great danger of the stock suffering 

 from frost ; and again, if the brood be laid down in very 



(a) "The Oyster, &c." 



