THE CLAM FISHERIES. 601 



brown, and they could eat them slowly, as befits the viand, and listen to Jacob Steendam as, sonor- 

 ously, he sang his " Praises of New Netherlands," 



En Kreeit, en Krab, eu Mossels : Oesters, die 

 Een better is als Europa drie 

 In veelhiyt lun-l on-kenbaar voorhem, wie 

 't Mocht onderwindon. 



Now, the manner of a modern clam-bake is this: A circular hearth is first made in the sand 

 with flat stones, upon which a fire is kept up until they are red hot and the coals fall down into 

 a flat heap. A layer of sea- weed is then placed upon them, and upon the seaweed a layer of clams 

 about 3 inches thick covered by more seaweed ; then follows a layer of green corn in the husk, 

 intermixed with potatoes and other vegetables ; then a layer of oysters, crabs (in sacks to prevent 

 their escape), and poultry, dressed and seasoned ; then more seaweed. This arrangement is con- 

 tinued according to the number of persons to take part in the feast, and when the pile-is complete 

 it is covered with canvas overlaid with wet seaweed to prevent the steam from escaping. When 

 after about an hour the whole is cooked each one helps himself without ceremony to morsels from 

 the delicious mass. This joyful marine barbacue has prompted to verse some genial soul whose 

 heart was warmed, and he tells cleverly how others may emulate his epicurean delight and possibly 

 also meet the muse at table. Here is his recipe I wish I knew his name that I might sound that 

 too: 



First catch your clams along the ebbing edges 



Of saline coves you'll find the precious wedges 



With backs up, lurking iu the sandy bottom; 



Pull iu your iron rake, and lo ! you've got 'em. 



Take thirty large ones, put a basin under, 



Add water (three quarts) to the native liquor, 



Bring to a boil (and, by the way, the quicker 



It boils the better, if you do it cutely) ; 



Now add the clams, chopped up and minced minutely, 



Allow a longer boil of just three minutes, 



And while it bubbles, quickly stir within its 



Tumultuous depths, where still the mollusks mutter, 



Four tablespoons of flour .and four of butter, 



A pint of milk, some pepper to your notion ; 



And clams need salting, although born of ocean. 



Eemovo from fire (if much boiled they will suffer 



You'll find that india-rubber isn't tougher) ; 



After 'tis off add three fresh eggs well beaten, 



Stir once more and it's ready to be eaten. 



Fruit of the wave ! Oh, dainty and delicious! 



Food for the gods! Ambrosia for Aspicius ! 



Worthy to thrill the soul of sea-born Venus 



Or titillate the palate of Silenus! 



A "clam-bake" expresses the sum of all human happiness to the Rhode Islander, and to 

 gather all his relatives and friends on the sea-shore, bake the roystering clam in dried seaweed, 

 and eat it with other good things, fills his cup of joy. As enthusiasm and emotion always seem 

 odd, and perhaps ludicrous to those who are not under its influence, the New Englanders get 

 much fun poked at them by outsiders. It is related, for example, that a Sunday-school teacher in 

 Khode Island told the pupils that there were poor children in Illinois who had never experienced 

 the supreme delight of a clam-bake, and the last penny in the juvenile pocket was dropped in the 

 plate in aid of the benighted sufferers. 



A better story, however, is the following, which I " sell to you as I bought it," not making 

 myself responsible for the truth of the tale : Prof. Anton Siegafritz was selected a few years 

 ago by the Prussian authorities to examine into the expediency of making plantations of oysters, 



