THE OTSTER. 47 



round our shores each locality boasts of its own ^''Na- 

 tives" as the best oysters in the land. Poole j)oints 

 proudly to her oyster-bank, and tells mii'aculous tales 

 of her fishery, and of the number of oysters she sends 

 to the London market, besides those which are pickled 

 at sea for the export trade to lands where a fresh oyster 

 is still a luxury unknown. The Poole fishermen who 

 open oysters in their boats for pickling are compelled, 

 by an Act of the Legislature, to throw the shells on the 

 strand, and these, in the course of time, have formed a 

 strong barrier against the waves of the sea at the flow 

 of the tide, having the appearance of an island at high- 

 water ; and, simple as it is, such is the sole construction 

 of this celebrated breakwater. 



I cannot be expected to take the reader on a voyage 

 of discovery all round the coast, nor to the Channel' 

 Islands, to taste the oysters which Providence has 

 spread out for our enjoyment with such a lavish 

 hand. But there is one little spot on the shores of 

 Cornwall which I cannot pass over, because from it 

 came one of the colonies on the banks of the Thames, 

 fr^om which the ~V\Tiitstable boats still draw their 

 annual supply. Into Mount's Bay the Helford Eiver, 

 upon which stands the little town of Helstone, empties 

 itself, opposite Mount St. Michael's, into the sea, 

 and in the estuary of that little river, a person of the 

 name of Tyacke, within the memory of the " oldest 



alternate draughts of brown stout. The Hibernian will tell 

 j'^ou that even our Natives are inferior to these. He is right 

 in his patriotism, but wrong in his assertion. How often do 

 our prejudices trip up our judgment ! 



