440 ANIMAL FOOD EESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



evening as the choicest of viands. These various dishes 

 of strange fish were partaken of with a relish, which, 

 until the experiments of last year and this were made 

 and proved successful, were considered valuable only for 

 fertilizers or curiosities for aquaria. 



" The consomrad of moss-bunker {Bremortia tyrannus) 

 was very palatable, and entirely free from all oleaginous^ 

 ness. 



" The ' Bisque of razor clams ' was as delicate in 

 flavour as oyster soup. ' Gray snapper k la Blackford ' 

 was another equally palatable dish. Although the gray 

 snapper is not equal in flavour to the red snapper, there 

 is no reason why it should be neglected by our fisher- 

 men, as it generally is, as a marketable fish. 



" ' Horseshoe crabs k la diable ' were served from dishes 

 composed of the empty shells of the horseshoe or king 

 crab (Limulus molucoanus). The flesh of this crab 

 was found to be coarser and more stringy than that of 

 the ordinary crab, and the flavour more pungent, but not 

 sufficiently so to make it unpalatable. 



" ' Drumfish a la Cope ' was very suggestive of sheeps- 

 head. The drumfish (Pogonias chromis, Lacep.) is never 

 to be found in the markets, and in the severest sense 

 is looked upon as an ' evil ' fish by the fishermen, it 

 being one of the greatest enemies to the oyster. 



" ' Saut^ of shark, Chinese style,' was not very suc- 

 cessful, as the portion that I partook of left a disagree- 

 able taste in the mouth, though others declared it equal 

 to halibut steak ; perhaps I got the evil part of the 

 beast. 



" ' Squid k la Starin.' Without exception the squid 

 is one of the most repulsive-looking animals of our coast, 

 and yet from it was produced a black-coloured and 

 gelatinous soup, which, if you could forget the disgust- 

 ing form of the creature, was very pleasant to the 

 taste. Next on the menu came hell-benders, sea robins, 

 ' Lophius a la Beard ' (L. piscatorius) and blow fish, 

 with sea-lettuce salad, from which were produced fries, 

 broils, and salads, all more or less enjoyable." 



