THE CLAM AN EXCELLENT FOOD. 465 



tinguish it from the round clam, (Venus mercenaria,) is 

 a most valuable gift of the sea to the inhabitants of the 

 coast of New England and New York. It is by many 

 preferred as food to the oyster abounds on the muddy 

 and sandy flats which almost everywhere skirt the coast 

 and the shores of the creeks and is accessible to all as the 

 water retires, during twelve hours out of the twenty- 

 four. It is large, being from 3 to 5 inches long, by l^to 

 2 inches broad, and is cooked by stewing and roasting. 

 About 5000 bushels a-year are sold in Boston market, 

 besides the countless quantities which are consumed along 

 the coast. In Long Island the pigs are accustomed to 

 dig it up and feed upon it, as they are said to do the 

 oysters at Shediac in New Brunswick, and u they follow 

 the change of the tides with unerring sagacity.&quot; 



It is also one of the best baits for cod and haddock. 

 For the Newfoundland fisheries, therefore, it is taken out 

 of the shell, put into casks, and salted. Seven bushels of 

 clams are required to fill one barrel, and of these 5000, 

 under the name of clam bait, are put up every year along 

 this coast, and sold at six or seven dollars a barrel. 



The giant clam, (Mactra gigantea,) which attains a 

 size of 6 inches long by 2^ broad and 4 deep, is plenty 

 in numerous places, and is esteemed by many ; but it 

 requires long stewing to make it tender. This is not the 

 case with the round clam, (Venus mercenaries,) which is 

 more abundant than the long clam towards the south. 

 The latter is sold in considerable quantities in the Boston 

 market ; and, in those of New York and Philadelphia, 

 supersedes almost entirely the long clam of the north, 

 and is as much esteemed. From the purple interior of 

 this shell the wampum or shell-money of the Indians was 

 prepared. In those days Long Island was the great 

 mine from which the supplies of wampum were obtained. 

 A clam bake is one of the favourite amusements of pic- 



VOL. II. 2 a 



