14 OYSTERS. 



and almost insatiable appetites of the fish which every- 

 where traverse it, it may be reasonably concluded, that 

 their utility is very great, in this respect, in the eco- 

 nomy of nature. 



Man is often indebted, moreover, to these animals for 

 food. The poor inhabitants of the western isles of Scot- 

 land find their daily, and sometimes their only fare, 

 in the periwinkles and limpets which so profusely stud 

 the rocks of their shores. In the isle of Skye, it is said, 

 there is almost annually a degree of famine, and here 

 is found " the casual repast," as Pennant calls it, " of 

 hundreds during part of the year.'" Captain Cook saw 

 no appearance of the people of Terra del Fuego having 

 any other food ; " for though," he says, " seals were fre- 

 quently seen near the shore, they seemed to have no 

 implements for taking them. The sheUy animals are 

 collected by the women, whose business it seems to be 

 to attend, at low water, with a basket in one hand, a 

 stick pointed and barbed in the other, and a satchel at 

 their backs ; they loosen the limpets, and other fish that 

 adhere to the rocks, with the stick, and put them into 

 the basket, which, when full, they empty into the 

 satchel." 



The demand for oysters, wherever they exist along 

 our shores, creates a profitable source of employment 



