OTSTEES IN AMEEICA. 263 



of cheap literature, •will be recalled, and their boasted kocwledge 

 of the wonders of the fish world — of oysters that grew on trees, 

 and oysters so large that they required to be carved just like a 

 round of beef or quarter of lamb. All these tales were formerly 

 considered so many romances. Who believed Uncle Jack when 

 he gravely told his wondering nephews about oysters as large 

 as a soup-plate being found on the coast of Coromandel 1 But, 

 nevertheless, Uncle Jack's stories have been found to be true : 

 there are large oysters which require carving, and oysters have 

 been plucked off trees. There are wonderful tales about oysters 

 that have been taken on the coast of Africa — ^plucked too from 

 the very trees that our good, but ignorant, forefathers did not 

 believe in. The ancient Romans, who knew all the secrets of 

 good living, had the oysters of all countries brought to their 

 fish-stews, in order that they might experiment upon them and 

 fatten them for table purposes. Although they gave the palm 

 to those from Britain, they had a great many varieties from 

 Africa, and had ingenious modes of transporting them to great 

 distances which have been lost to modem pisciculturists. 



In America the oyster is an institution of great importance. 

 On the seaboard of that vast continent they are found in 

 natural beds of wonderful extent, and are distributed by means 

 of railway and steamboat throughout the cities and villages of 

 even the far inland districts. Numerous as are the shell-fish 

 shops of London, they are but as one in ten when compared 

 with the oyster-houses of New York, in which city oyster-eating 

 appears to be almost the sole business of life, so many people 

 are to be found indulging in that pleasure. The custom in 

 America is to have the oysters cooked, and this culinary process 

 is accomplished in a variety of ways ; the mollusc being stewed, 

 fried, or roasted, according to taste ; they may be had cooked 

 in about twenty different ways in any of the well-known oyster 

 taverns of New York at a few minutes' notice. The great 

 market for oysters in America is the city of Baltimore, in 

 Maryland, where it is not uncommon for one or two firms each 

 to " can " a million bushels in one year ! Immense numbers of 

 these " canned " oysters are dispatched aU over the States, to 

 the prairies of the far west, to the cities of New Mexico, to the 

 military forts of the great American desert, to the restaurants of 

 Honolulu, and to the miners searching for gold on the Rocky 

 Mountains ; whilst fresh oysters packed in ice have been sent 



