M. Kroyer on the Danish Oyster-Banks. 25 



by the name of Holsteiii oysters. The inhabitants of the 

 Schleswig-Holstein duchies will not be altogether pleased; 

 and their provincial assemblies may perhaps regard this trea- 

 tise as an insult to their nationality, just like the map of Cap- 

 tain Olsen, which represented the duchy of Schleswig incor- 

 porated with Denmark, under the name of South Jiitland. 

 But joking apart, the author may answer for this to the natives 

 of Schleswig. It is a matter of indiiference to us whether these 

 banks are termed Danish or Schleswigian, so long as they con- 

 tinue to afford us good Holstein oysters, and while we know 

 that of all the banks belonging to the Danish crown, they are 

 the most productive and the most numerous. Their number 

 amounted to fifty-three ; but several of them have been aban- 

 doned, being partly sanded, and partly exhausted, so that now 

 there are only about forty which are available. They lie on 

 the west coast of the duchy of Sehleswig, nearly opposite the 

 line of coast between Tondern and Husum, between the small 

 islands Sylt, Amrom, Fohr, Pelworm, Nordstrand, &;c. Almost 

 all these islands are surrounded by shallows, termed Watten, 

 which are dry at low water. These watten are traversed by 

 deep channels, in which, or on whose slanting edges the oysters 

 occur. The largest and richest among the available banks is 

 Huntje or Huncke, to the east of the island Sylt ; and its oys- 

 ters are excellent in quality. Unfortunately, however, this 

 bank has but a shallow covering of water, and suffers in severe 

 winters. In the winter of 1829-30, on this bank alone, there 

 were more than 10,000 tons of oysters, or about eight millions 

 of individuals destroyed by frost; although this estimate is 

 perhaps an exaggerated one, as it was furnished by a person 

 in the service of the overseer belonging to the lessee of the 

 fishery. 



The Danish banks, properly so called, lie on the east side of 

 the northern extremity of Jutland, opposite Skagen. It may 

 be said that they stretch along parallel to the east coast of the 

 peninsula of Skagen, from its northern extremity to Hirtshol- 

 men, and in such a manner that the fishing village Aalbeck 

 lies opposite their middle. Three banks are enumerated, viz. 

 the lower chiefly to the north, and opposite Skagen ; the mid- 

 dle, opposite Aalbeck ; and the upper, to the south. Accord- 



