308 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



enthusiastic admirers. We know that this king of the molluscs 

 congregates in enormous banks, often extending for miles and 

 miles, particularly on rocky ground, though it is also found on 

 a sandy or even on a muddy bottom. Along the shallow 

 alluvial shores of many tropical lands, great quantities of 

 oysters are often found attached to the lower branches of the 

 mangroves, where they are so situated as to be covered when 

 the flood sets in, and to remain suspended in the air when it 

 retires, swinging about as the wind agitates their movable 

 support. The oyster inhabits all the European seas from the 

 shores of the Mediterranean to the Westenfiord in Norway, where 

 it finds its northern boundary, lat. 68° N., but the British 

 waters may be considered as its headquarters, for nowhere is it 

 found in greater abundance and of a richer flavour. After the 

 ancient Komans had once tasted the oysters of Kent — the re- 

 nowned Itutupians — they preferred them by far to those of the 

 Lucrine lake, of Brindisi, and of Abydos, and Macrobius tells 

 us that the Eoman epicures in the fourth century never failed 

 to have them at table. The " Pandores " of Edinburgh, and 

 the " Carlingfords " of Dubbin, are likewise celebrated for their 

 delicious flavour ; and if we turn to the Continent, we find the 

 Bay of Biscay, and the coasts of Brittany and Normandy, of 

 Holland and of Schleswig-Holstein, renowned for the excellence 

 of their oysters. 



Three sorts of oysters are distinguished in the trade. The 

 first comprises those which are dredged from the deeper banks. 

 These are the largest-sized, but also the least valued. The 

 second consists of those that are gathered on a more elevated 

 situation. Being accustomed to the daily vicissitudes of ebb 

 and flood, they retain their water much longer, and can there- 

 fore be transported to much greater distances than the former. 

 Those are preferred that grow on a clear bottom near the 

 estuaries of rivers. The third and most valued sort of oysters 

 are those that are cleaned and fattened in artificial parks or 

 stews. 



This branch of industry was already known to the Bomans, 

 and Pliny tells us that Sergius Orata, a knight, was the first 

 who established an artificial basin for the cultivation of oysters, 

 and realised large sums of money by this ingenious invention. 

 At present Harwich, Colchester, Whitstable, and many other 



