232 OUT OF DOORS. 



There is another method of eating oysters, wherein 

 no knife is required and not the least skill in opening 

 is needed, the only instrument being a pair of tongs, 

 and the only requisite being a bright fire. You pick 

 out a glowing spot in the fire, where there are no flames 

 and no black pieces of coal to dart jets of smoke exactly 

 in the place where they are not wanted, as always takes 

 place during the operation of making toast. You then 

 insert a row of oysters into the glowing coals, taking 

 care to keep their mouths outwards, and within an easy 

 grasp of the tongs, and their convexity downwards. 

 Presently a spitting and hissing sound is heard, which 

 gradually increases until the shells begin to open, and 

 the juice is seen boiling merrily within, the mollusc 

 itself becoming whiter and more opaque as the operation 

 continues. There is no rule for ascertaining the precise 

 point at which the cooking is completed, for everyone 

 has his own taste, and must learn by personal ex- 

 perience. A little practice soon makes perfect, and 

 the expert operator will be able to keep up a continual 

 supply as fast as he can manage to eat them. When 

 they are thoroughly cooked they should be taken from 

 the fire, a second batch inserted, and the still hissing 

 and sputtering molluscs be eaten ' screeching' hot. 



A true ostreophilist will never eat oysters in any 

 but one of these two methods, and holds that in oyster 

 sauce, oyster patties, scalloped oysters, and the many 

 other dishes in which these bivalves are employed, the 

 oyster is wasted, and the accessories might have been 



