OSTREADiE. — OYSTER. 81 



bushel ; old royals, pearls, and Cheyney rocks, 305. ; 

 other kinds averaging from 12s. 6d. to 14s., according 

 to the quality. The shells of the native and rock oyster 

 vary much, though they are only varieties of the same 

 species, the shells of the latter being far more beauti- 

 fully sculptured and coloured, though coarser and more 

 rugged. 



In the Bay of Cadiz, Ostrea Virginica is eaten when 

 very small, but the poor people eat it full-size, viz. ten 

 inches long. This species lives in the salt mud of the 

 Guadalete, and is called ostione ; other oysters are called 

 ostras. The river is said to be salt three leagues from 

 its mouth. 



A Frenchman at Puerto St. Maria breeds oysters for 

 the Madrid market, but they are slimy, and not to be 

 compared with the English oysters, though they are said 

 to be good when cooked; and Major Byng Hall* states 

 that at Madrid, oysters — not fine ones — cost twopence 

 halfpenny (that is, I suppose, one real) each; but this 

 is not very remarkable, when in 1865 natives cost two- 

 pence, and Whitstable oysters three-halfpence each, in 

 London, the very land of oysters, so scarce had these 

 fish become. 



The Tarentines declare that oysters are fattest during 

 the full moon, and they are also fully persuaded that the 

 moonbeams have a pernicious effect upon sea-fish ; 

 therefore they cover over fish taken by moonlight, lest 

 they should decompose. 



The American oyster, Ostrea Virginica, is much larger 



than the English, and differs from it both in taste and 



appearance. Four or six of them broiled are sufficient 



for a meal. Mr. Nichols, in his ( Forty Years in 



* ' The Queen's Messenger,' p. 341. 



O 



