138 . .THE SEA. 



Whitstable lies in a sandy bay formed by a small branch of the Medway, which separates the 

 Isle of Sheppey from the mainland. Throughout this bay, from the town of Whitstable at 

 its eastern extremity to the old town of Faversham, which lies several miles inland, the whole 

 of the estuary is occupied by oyster-farms, on which the maritime population, to the extent 

 of 3,000 people and upwards, is occupied, the sum paid for labour by the various companies 

 being set down at 160,000 per annum, besides the employment given at "Whitstable in 

 building and repairing boats, dredges, and other requisites for the oyster-fishing. The business 

 of the various companies is to feed oysters for the London and other markets, to protect the 

 spawn or flotsam, as the dredgers call it, which is emitted on their own beds, and to furnish, 

 by purchase or otherwise, the new brood necessary to supply the beds which have been taken 

 up for consumption." The little Bay of Pont, on the Essex coast, a piece of water sixteen 

 miles long by three wide, now gives employment to 150 or more boats, the crews of which 

 are exclusively employed in obtaining brood oysters from eighteen months to two years old 

 to supply the oyster farmers. 



The Thames, or " native " system, is as follows : Every year there is a regular examina- 

 tion of the beds, which are so carefully dredged that almost every individual oyster is 

 examined. The younger ones are placed where they can thrive best, the same being true of 

 all grades. Dead and sickly oysters are removed, and star-fish and all kinds of enemies 

 killed. 



The Scallop (Pecteii) is not a true oyster, though it may be cooked and treated like 

 one, with satisfactory results. Its name is derived from the channeled edges and surfaces 

 peculiar to it, which somewhat resemble the arrangements of the teeth of a comb. Cen- 

 turies ago they were known as Pilgrims' Shells; for in the middle ages the pilgrims were 

 wont to ornament their habits or hats with these bivalves, of which there are not far from 

 a couple of hundred known species. They are much more lively animals than the oyster, 

 being able to shift about from place to place with some degree of agility ; this they do by 

 forcibly ejecting water between their shells, moving on by a kind of recoil. Another 

 curious bivalve mollusc is the Spondylus, a genus found mostly in the warmer seas, some 

 of the species of which are highly prized by conchologists. Their strong, brilliantly- 

 coloured shells bristle with spines and feet. One of the most remarkable species is that 

 known to naturalists as Spondylus rct/ius, at all times scarce, and at one time extremely 

 rare. In connection with the last-named mollusc, a story is told by M. Chenu, regarding 



an enthusiastic collector. " M. R /' says Chenu, "was Professor of Botany to the 



Faculty of Paris, and was, as sometimes happens, more learned than rich; he wished, 

 on the invitation of a stranger, to purchase one of these shells at a very high price, 

 which might be from 3,000 to 6,000 francs (approximately 120 to 24-0) ; the bargain 

 was made, and the price agreed upon; it was only necessary to pay. The money in the 

 Professor's hands made only a part of the sum the merchant was to receive for his shell, 



and he would not part with it without payment. M. R , now consulting his desire 



to possess the shell more than his weak resources, made up secretly a parcel of his scanty 

 plate, and went out to sell it. Without consulting his wife, he replaced his silver plate 

 by articles of tin, and ran to the merchant to secure his coveted Spondylus, which he 

 believed to be S. regins. 



