OUE SEA FISHERIES. 263 



to the public. Nevertheless, the Legislature was so 

 decided on the point, that it granted away a common 

 law right in the high-way of the Thames — a privi- 

 lege which it was an usurpation of power to grant — 

 to a private company for its own sole use and benefit, 

 That Heme Bay will be a port eyentuaUy, and the 

 London and Dover railway will profit thereby, I do 

 not doubt ; but that the public will evei rejoice in 

 cheap oysters from Heme Bay, I very much doubt. 

 Yet not a single voice was raised in Parliament 

 against this job. 



The very best oysters we get are the Natives, as 

 the oysters of Whitstable, Milton, and Colchester 

 chiefly are denominated. The small oysters or 

 spawn, called in the trade "spat," is collected all 

 round the coagt, and deposited in the oyster-beds, in 

 localities most favourable to its development, where 

 the greatest care is taken of the beds, star-fish and 

 other vermin destructive to the oyster being careftdly 

 kept away from them, until the fish are fit for sale, 

 when the oysters are dredged up, and any spat which 

 may be adhering to them is removed and returned 

 ^0 the water. Vast quantities of oysters were brought 

 from Jersey, where the oyster-beds were unusually 

 large and fertile. The coarsest and worst oysters we 

 obtain are the Channel and deep-sea Oysters. 



