THE OTSTEK. 77 



oysters ; but they gain in thickness what they lose in 

 size. In Flanders and the ;N"etherlands they are known 

 under the name of '' English oysters," but are called in 

 Paris after the name of the beds where they are reared. 

 They are in reality Edinburgh " I^atives," cleaned and 

 fattened in the Ostend oyster-beds, and hence called 

 Belgian or Ostend oysters. 



The oyster of Ostend cannot be too much recommended 

 to gourmets. It is to the common oyster what a chicken 

 is to an old hen. It is a draught of bitter ale to a thirsty 

 palate. It is a known fact, that after having abstained 

 from food for a long time, the first oyster one eats pro- 

 duces a kind of unusual rictus (or opening of the mouth), 

 the reason of which physiologists have never been able 

 to explain. This same sensation is produced in eating 

 an Ostend oyster, but it is much sweeter, more lastingj 

 and much more delightful. If the Romans had ever 

 known them they would have sung their praises both 

 in verse and prose, and would by far have preferred them 

 to their sadly over-praised oysters from the Lucrine 

 Sea. 



The only oysters which can be brought into competi- 

 tion with those of Ostend in the same markets are the 

 "Whitstable oysters, which have only recently become an 

 article of trade on the Continent. These are also '' na- 

 tives" from the Channel, generally larger than the former, 

 but unequal, not being sorted, very fat and full, but much 

 more tender, and do not keep fresh so long. The cause 

 of this may be that they are first taken from "Whitstable 

 to London, where they are packed up and sent by sea and 

 rail to Hamburgh and Berlin, which takes always from- 



