O Y S 
nine inches in diameter, and are admired by fome 
as excellent food. But, large as thefe may appear 
to fuch as have only leen thofe which are conveyed 
•to all parts of this ifland in barrels, their dimen- 
fions are trifling, when compared with the Oyfters 
of the Eaft Indies, fome of whofe fhells are two 
feet over. One of the Oyfters found along the 
coaft of Coromandel is capable of furnifliing a 
plentiful repaft to eight or ten men; but it feems 
to be univerfally agreed, that they are no v/ay 
comparable to thofe of Europe for delicacy and 
flavour. 
Oyflrers were early introduced among the luxu- 
rious Romans : thofe of the Lucrine I^ake were 
mofl: admired; * for,' fays Pliny, 'the Britifli Oyilers 
were not known till this country had been fre- 
quently viflted.' The ancients ate their Oyfters 
raw, and fometimes roafl:ed: they had alfo a cuf- 
tom of fliewing them with mallows and docks, or 
with fifli, and efteemed them very nutritive. 
The Oyfters of Britain have ever gained a de- 
cided preference over thofe of every other coun- 
try. Moftof our coafts produce them naturally; 
in fuch places they are taken by dredging; and are 
become a confiderable article of commerce, both 
raw and pickled. Their very fhells, when cal- 
cined, become an ufeful abforbent; and, in com- 
mon with other fhells, afford an excellent ma- 
nure. 
As Oyfters are fo generally admired, it cannot 
fail of affording both entertainment and inftruc- 
tion to the reader to tranfcribe an account of the 
whole treatment of thefe fliell-fifli, as preferved 
in the learned Bifhop Sprat's Hiftory of the Royal 
Society. 
' In the month of May,' fays he, * the Oyfters 
caft their fpawn, which the dredgers call their 
fpats ; it is like to a drop of candle, and about 
the fize of an halfpenny. 
^ The fp.1t cleaves to flones, old oyftcr- fhells, 
pieces of wood, and fuch like things, at the bot- 
tom of the fea, which they call cultch. 
' 'Tis probably conjeftured, that the fpat, in 
twenty-four hours, begins to have a fhell. 
' In the m.onth of May, the dredgers, by the 
laws of the Admiralty-court, have liberty to catch 
all manner of Oyfters, of what fize foever. 
* When they have taken them, with a knife 
they gently raife the fmall brood from the cultch, 
and then they throw the cultch in again, to pre- 
ferve the ground for the future, unlefs they be fo 
newly fpat, that they cannot be fafely fevered from 
the cultch; in that cafe, they are permitted to 
take the ftone or fhell, that the fpat is upon, one 
fliell having many tim.es twenty fpats. 
* After the month of May, it is felony to carry 
away the cultch, and punifhable to take any other 
Oyflers, unlefs it be thofe of fize ; that is to fay, 
about the bignefs of an half-crown piece, or when 
the two fhells being fliut, a fair fhilling will rattle 
between them. 
' The places where the Oyfters are ufually 
caught, are called the Pont-Burnham, Maiden, 
and Colne waters ; the latter taking it's name from 
the river of Colne, which paffech by Colne Chef- 
ter, gives name to that town, and runs int j a neck 
of the fea at a place called the Plythe, being the 
fuburbs of the town, 
* This brood, and other Oyfters, they carry to 
-Creeksof the fea, atBrickel Sea, Merfey, I^ngno, 
Fingrego, Wivenho, Tolefbury, and Saltcoafe, 
and there throvi' them into the channel, which they 
call their beds or layers,, where they grow and 
O Y S 
fatten, and in two or three years time the fmallefl 
brood will be Oyfters of the fize aforefaid. 
' Thofe Oyfters which they would have green, 
they put into pits, about three feet deep in the 
falt-marfhes, v/hich are overflowed only at fpring- 
tides, to which they have fluices, and let out the 
water till it is about a foot and a half deep. 
' Thefe pits, from, fome quality in the Ibil, co- 
operating with the heat of the fun, will become 
green, and communicate their colour to the Oy- 
fters that are put into them in four or five days, 
tliough they commonly permit them to continue fix 
weeks or two months, in which time they will be 
of a dark green. 
* To prove that the fun operates in the green- 
ing, Tolefbury pits will green only in fummer; but 
that the earth hath the greater power, Brickel Sea 
pits green both winter and fummer; and, for a far- 
ther proof, a pit within a foot of the greening pit 
will not green ; and thofe that did green very well, 
will in time lofe their quality. 
' The Oyfters, when the tide comes in, lie with 
their hollow fliell downwards; and when it goes 
out, they turn on the other fide ; they remove not 
from their place, unlefs in cold weather, to cover 
themfelves in the ooze. 
' Thereafonof the fcarcityof the Oyfters, and 
confequently of their dearnefs, is, becaufe they are 
of late years bought up by the Dutch. 
' There are great penalties by the Admiralty- 
court laid on thofe that fifli out of thofe grounds 
which the court appoints, or that deftroy the 
cultch, orthattake any Oyfters that are not of fize, 
or that do not tread under their feet, or throw 
upon the fliore, a fifh which they call a five-fin- 
ger, refembling a fpur-rowel, becaufe that fifh gets 
into the Oyfters when they gape, and fucks them 
out. 
* The reafon wliy fuch a penalty is fet on any 
one that will deftroy the cultch, is, becaufe they 
find that if that be taken away, the oufe will in- 
creafe, and the mufcles and cockles will breed 
there, and deftroy the Oyfters, they having not 
whereon to ftick their fpat. 
' The Oyfters are fick after they have fpat; but 
in June and July they begin to mend, and in Au- 
guft they are perfedly well. The male Oyfter is 
black fick, having a black fubftance in the fin; 
the female v/hite fick, as they term it, having a 
milky fubftance in the fin. They are fait in the 
pits, falter in the layers, but falteft at fea.' 
To this account we beg leave to add a fliort, 
but more modern hiftory of Oyfters, extra6ted 
from the Hiftory of Rochefter, publiflied in 1776. 
' Great part of the inhabitants of Stroud,' fays 
the hiftorian, ' are fupported by the fifheries, of 
which the Oyfter is moft confiderable. This is 
conduced by a comipany of free dredgers, efta- 
blifhed by prefcription, but fubjeil to the autho- 
rity and government of the m.ayor and citizens of 
Rochefter. In 1 7 0.9, an a£l of parliament was ob- 
tained for the better management of this fifhery, 
and for confirming the jurifditStion of the faid 
mayor, and citizens, and free dredgers. The 
mayor holds a court of admiralty every year, ta 
make fuch regulations as fliall be neceflary for 
the well-condu6ting this valuable branch of fifli- 
ery. Seven years apprenticefhip entitles apcrfon 
to the freedom of this company. All perfons 
catching Oyfters, not members of the fiflieiy, are 
liable to a penalty. The company frequently buy 
brood or fpat from ether parts, which they lay in 
this river, where they foon grow to maturity. 
Great 
