308 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 
enthusiastic admirers. We know that this king of the molluses 
congregates in enormous banks, often extending for miles and 
miles, particularly on rocky ground, though it is also found on 
a sandy or even on a muddy bottom. Along the shallow 
alluvial shores of many tropical lands, great quantities of 
oysters are often found attached to the lower branches of the 
mangroves, where they are so situated as to be covered when 
the flood sets in, and to remain suspended in the air when it 
retires, swinging about as the wind agitates their movable 
support. The oyster inhabits all the European seas from the 
shores of the Mediterranean to the Westenfiord in Norway, where 
it finds its northern boundary, lat. 68° N., but the British 
waters may be considered as its headquarters, for nowhere is it 
found in greater abundance and of a richer flavour. After the 
ancient Romans had once tasted the oysters of Kent—the re- 
nowned Rutupians—they preferred them by far to those of the 
Lucrine lake, of Brindisi, and of Abydos, and Macrobius tells 
us that the Roman epicures in the fourth century never failed 
to have them at table. The “ Pandores” of Edinburgh, and 
the “ Carlingfords ” of Dublin, are likewise celebrated for their 
delicious flavour ; and if we turn to the Continent, we find the 
Bay of Biscay, and the coasts of Brittany and Normandy, of 
Holland and of Schleswig-Holstein, renowned for the excellence 
of their oysters. 
Three sorts of oysters are distinguished in the trade. The 
first comprises those which are dredged from the deeper banks. 
These are the largest-sized, but also the least valued. The 
second consists of those that are gathered on a more elevated 
situation. Being accustomed to the daily vicissitudes of ebb 
and flood, they retain their water much longer, and can there- 
fore be transported to much greater distances than the former. 
Those are preferred that grow on a clear bottom near the 
estuaries of rivers. The third and most valued sort of oysters 
are those that are cleaned and fattened in artificial parks or 
stews. 
This branch of industry was already known to the Romans, 
and Pliny tells us that Sergius Orata, a knight, was the first 
who established an artificial basin for the cultivation of oysters, 
and realised large sums of money by this ingenious invention. 
At present Harwich, Colchester, Whitstable, and many other 
