134 THE SEA. 



a person of the name of Tyacke, within the memory of the ' oldest inhabitant/ rented certain 

 oyster-beds, famous among Cornish gourmets for a breed of oysters, which, it is said, the 

 Phoenicians, ' a long time ago/ had discovered to be infinitely preferable to the watery things 

 they got at home. These Helford oysters are regularly brought to London . . . Determined 

 to make his venture, Tyacke loaded a fishing-smack with the best produce of his beds, and 

 coasted along the southern shores, till passing round the Isle of Thanet he found himself 

 in the mouth of the Thames. Little did the elated oyster-dredger think that mouth 

 would swallow up the whole of his cargo ; but so it came to pass. It had long been evident 

 to those on board that oysters which travel, no less than men, must have rations allowed on 

 the voyage, if they are to do credit to the land of their birth. Now the voyage had been 

 long and tedious, and the oysters had not been fed ; so Tyacke got into his boat, and 

 obtained an interview with the owner of the spot when he reached the shore. He asked 

 permission to lay down his oysters, and feed them. This was granted, and after a few 

 days the spores of ulva latissima and enter omorplia, and of the host of delicate fibrous plants 

 which there abound, and all of which are the oyster's delight, made the whole green and 

 fat, and in the finest condition for re-shipment. Four days, it is said, will suffice to make 

 a lean oyster, on such a diet, both green and plump ; and Tyacke, joyful at the improve- 

 ment which he daily witnessed, let his stock feed on for a week. It was towards evening 

 that he bethought himself, as the tide was out, that if he meant to reach Billingsgate 

 by the next morning it would be wise to re-ship his oysters before turning in for the 

 night. The boat was lowered ; but, as he attempted to land, he was warned off by the 

 owner of the soil, who stood there with several fierce-looking fellows, armed with cutlasses 

 and fowling-pieces, evidently anticipating the Cornishmaii's intention, and determined to 

 frustrate it at all hazards. 



" What do you want here ?" he asked of Tyacke. 



" The oysters I put down to feed/' was the reply ; " they were placed there by your 

 permission, and now I am anxious to re-ship them, to be in time for to-morrow's market." 



" True/' replied the Kentishman, " I gave you leave to lay down the oysters and feed 

 them, but not a word was said about re-shipping them. Where they are, there they stay ; 

 and if you persist in trespassing, I shall know what to do." 



" Poor Tyacke found himself much in the predicament of many a flat who has been picked 

 up by a sharp. A century ago law was not justice, nor justice law. Perhaps it may not 

 be so even now, and the story of the lawyer who ate the oyster in dispute, and gave each of 

 the disputants a shell, may hold as good in our day as it did in that when the author of the 

 ' Beggars' Opera ' put it into verse." 



It is said that the oyster, a delicate, refined animal, is particularly fond of music. One 

 of the oyster's historians says that an old ballad is still sung by many a hardy seaman as 

 he trolls his dredging nets : 



(i The herring loves the merry moonlight, 



The mackerel loves the wind, 

 But the oyster loves the dredger's song, 

 For he comes of a gentle kind." 



Shakspere, it may be remembered, alludes to "an oyster crossed in love.** 



