THE NAUTILUS. 117 



titnbale. If you want to get tlieni in perfection, however, you should 

 sail down to the Island of Waiheke, in the Frith of Thames, fifteen 

 miles from Auckland, a veritable Fairyland. Have your fairy on 

 band with her brad-awl ; pick out a rock just awash at high tide ; 

 sit under a tree-fern, or in the shade of the sail of your boat ; swallow 

 the oysters alive as they come from the nymph's deft hands in their 

 pearly, cup like shell ; give each just one bite, to bring out all the 

 flavor, as it goes down ; and offer up pseans of praise to the Giver of 

 all good things. Charles Kingsley declared a genuine Havana cigar 

 was a thing to thank God for, and Charles Lamb wanted a form of 

 grace to be said after reading an interesting book. The soul of man 

 ascends to Heaven in gratitude, without a shadow of profanity, after 

 assimilating a peck or so of Waiheke oysters. They are the most 

 ethereal of all food. From time immemorial the Maoris have come 

 from all the neighboring parts, and even from long distances, every 

 summer, to feast on oysters in a particular bay at Waiheke. I have 

 been there often. It is worth a pilgrimage from the other end of the 

 earth. In the middle of New Zealand there are the famous Queen 

 Charlotte Sound oysters, round and flat, and very firm in flesh, with 

 just that sub-flavor of copper which some connoisseurs set such a 

 value on, but which I confess I am not very partial to. Not but 

 that I can eat a couple of dozen of Queen Charlotte Sound oysters 

 with pleasure at any time — when Auckland rocks are not to be had. 

 In the far south, at Stewart's Island — Providence has been very 

 gracious to those people — superb oysters of quite a different kind are 

 obtained in vast quantities, just when Auckland rocks are out of 

 season. Stewart's Island oysters are large, round, flat, symmetrical 

 oysters, which look simply splendid on the half-shell, and have a 

 grand flavor and plenty of it, which makes them invaluable for 

 cookery. A timbale or souffle of Stewart Island oysters is something 

 to make your hair curl. But nothing can shake my devotion to the 

 Auckland oysters. It is founded on a rock. I am quite safe in say- 

 ing that the biggest edible oysters in the world are found at Fort 

 Lincoln in South Australia. They are as large as a dinner-plate, 

 and the same shape. I have seem them moi'ethan a foot across the 

 shell, and the oyster fits his shell so well he does not leav^e much 

 margin. It is a new sensation, when a friend asks you to lunch at 

 Adelaide, to have one oyster set before you fried in butter or egg 

 and bread-crumbs. But it is a very pleasant sensation, for the 



