Oylters. 



162, NATURAL HISTORY of NO R JV A T. 



myfelf but narrow, I think it more eligible to follow the natural 

 order. This I avoided in my Account of Birds and Fifties, for 

 reafons affigned under their refpe&ive heads. 



SECT. II. 



Oyfters, Oftreas : we have thefe, particularly on the weftern 

 coaft, both in quantity, fize and flavour, fuperior to almoft any 

 others in Europe ; but this fpecies is very* different from the 

 common fort. Thofe . of the ordinary lhape and fize may be 

 arranged into three forts, according to the ground where they are 

 taken ; namely, the Rock-Oyfters, the Sand-Oyfters, and the 

 Glay-Oyfters : thefe laft are the worft fort, and not regarded when 

 the two former are to be had; for the thick filmy bottom they 

 live upon, gives them a kind of muddy tafte. The Sand-Oyfters 

 are^ preferable to thefe ; and are of the fame kind with thofe 

 which they take on the fands at Tondern and Fladftrand, in 

 Denmark. Thefe are of a good flavour, and free from that muddy 

 tafte ; but they are not fo large and full as the third fort, namely, 

 the Rock-Oyfters, fo called, becaufe they ftick to the rocks, 

 under high- water mark. Thefe, efpecialJy the larger fort of 

 them, which the Dutch call Groenbartjes, or Greenbeards, are 

 excellent : their ihells are much thinner *, but the Fifh is twice 

 as big as thofe taken at Tender or Fladftrand. Thefe are very 

 fat, and have a good flavour, except it be in the four Summer 

 months ; during which time they are out of feafon with us, as in 

 other countries where they are found. Our fifhermen ufe a kind 

 of wooden pincers to break them from the rocks, with which 

 they take off one or two at at a time. 



Befides thofe that are eaten frefh in the country, great quanti- 

 ties are pickled, put up in barrels, and exported to many places 

 in the Baltic. There are fometimes pretty large pearls found in 

 them, but feldom of that purity or perfection as to have their full 

 luftre. It is faid the Crab and Star-fifti often feed upon the 

 Oyfter; and that they ufe this ftratagem to prevent their being 

 pinched by the fhell ; for while it is open they throw in a ftone, 

 which hinders it from fhutting clofe, and then the Oyfter becomes 

 an eafy prey to them. They feem to exceed' the wily fox in this 



* How thin and flat the Rock-Oyfters are, we may know by their transparency 

 when held againft a candle. The Sand and Clay- Oyfters have foul Ihells, three or 

 four times as thick as the latter, and consequently take up a great deal more room in 

 the calks. On the eaftern coaft they have Oyfters of a monftrous f2ze. In the king's 

 Mufeum at Copenhagen there are two Oyfter-fhells, which were drawn up with a 

 cable at Goa, each of which weighs 224 pounds ; they are five feet in diameter, and 

 the Fifh was fo large, that every one of the fhip's crew had a confiderable piece 

 of it. 



par- 



