_Whereby hangeth a tayle, and eke a moral._
A Doctor and a Lawyer, went together merrily,
Adown the North-west Arm to take a dip into the sea.
Arrived, the Doctor coolly took a rather ‘heavy wet,’
A Lobster just as coolly took the Doctor by the feet.
He, careful man, his health and wind most prudently had heeded,
And little thought that either toe an amputation needed;
He felt the Lobster on his skill most cuttingly reflected,
And to his surgical attempt decidedly objected.
With ready forceps, tooth and nail, the lobster set to work--
While all in vain the Doctor tried to baulk him by a jerk.
‘Midst present pain his anxious thoughts began afar to roam,
On forceps, scalpels, lancets, knives, and stout probangs _at home_.
But, _lacking these_, the foe to face, he felt somehow afraid,
And therefore lustily he called the Lawyer to his aid.
He, cunning man, well versed in quirks and quibbles of the law,
Sagaciously searched how to find in Lobster’s claim a flaw.
The claim of _tenure_ to rebut, at once, he vainly sought;
Possession was nine points, he knew, and so the Lobster thought.
He saw the lobster quite secure within his own domain,
And to entice him thence began to work his ready brain.
One foot the Doctor yet had free, and this, with shuffling gait,
He offered to the other claw--a very tempting bait.
But, gently moving back, he ’scaped the meditated nip,
And shoreward still, with toe outstretched, most cannily did skip.
At length from his domain withdrawn, the Lobster gasps for air,
And vainly strives to battle with this wise confederate pair.
The Lawyer charged him with assault, and quick a claim put in,
That for the same the damages be laid upon his skin.
Attachment writ at once he took, upon the offending _claws_;
And moved he should be boiled alive, in vengeance for the laws.
The Lobster in his mute amaze, allowed that _clause_ to pass;
Nor had the foresight to exclaim ‘Produce your capias!’
So borne along all bodily, and sore against his will,
The Lobster proved the heavy weight, of more than lobster’s ill.
For they not only _boiled_ but _ate_, his body, claws and all;
And most provokingly enjoyed the inglorious festival.
They cracked his shell, and cracked their jokes--pulled off that leg
and this--
Forgetful all of ‘_Nil nisi bonum de mortuis_.’
Now hence be warned, ye bustling men, and in your projects pause--
Beware into your neighbour’s pot, how you thrust in your claws.
Ye busy wights! reflect ye how this luckless Lobster got,
By injudicious meddling, from cold water into hot.
To tread upon another’s toes, I pray be not too bold--
But when you’re in _cold_ water, try to _keep_ the water cold.
Lord Anson mentions having caught cray-fish at Juan Fernandez of eight
and nine lbs. weight, that were of an excellent flavour. Lobsters are
also found in such quantities on the same island, that the fishermen
have no other trouble to take them than to strew a little meat upon the
shore, and when they come to devour the bait, as they do in immense
numbers, to turn them on their backs with a stick. This is gravely
asserted by the Abbé Molina, in his _History of Chile_, so I suppose it
must be true. Turning a turtle is a common practice, but I should think
it somewhat difficult to get a lobster on its back. By this simple
method thousands of lobsters are taken annually; and the tails, which
are in high estimation, dried and sent to Valparaiso.
A late traveller, in his _Life in China_, describes a very peculiar
dish:--‘When our party of six had seated themselves at the centre
table, my attention,’ he says, ‘was attracted by a _covered_ dish,
something unusual at a Chinese meal. On a certain signal, the cover
was removed; and presently the face of the table was covered with
juvenile crabs, which made their exodus from the dish with all possible
rapidity. The crablets had been thrown into a plate of vinegar just
as the company sat down--such an immersion making them more brisk and
lively than usual. But the sprightly sport of the infant crabs was
soon checked, by each guest seizing which he could, dashing it into
his mouth, crushing it between his teeth, and swallowing the whole
morsel without ceremony. Determined to do as the Chinese did, I tried
this novelty also with one--with two. I succeeded, finding the shell
soft and gelatinous, for they were tiny creatures, not more than a day
or two old. But I was compelled to give in to the third, which had
resolved to take vengeance, and gave my lower lip a nip so sharp and
severe, as to make me relinquish my hold, and likewise desist from any
further experiments of this nature.’
Shrimps (_Crangon vulgaris_) and prawns (_Palæmon serratus_) frequent
shallow waters along the sandy coasts of the British Islands, of
America, Europe, and indeed most countries. Besides furnishing
nutriment to great numbers of fish, aquatic birds, &c., they are in
great request in England for the table--the consumption in London
alone being enormous. In 1850, 192,295 gallons were received and sold
at Billingsgate Market, weighing 875 tons, and valued at £6,000. In
the Sandwich Islands, shrimps are eaten alive as a _bonne bouche_,
with salad and vinegar; but we prefer them in this country boiled.
Shrimping by the dredge net, or sweep net, affords abundant employment
to numerous persons. On the North American coasts shrimps are more
plentiful than on the European shores. At times, the waters of the
Straits of Northumberland appear as if thickened with masses of shrimps
moving about, their course being plainly indicated by the fish of all
descriptions which follow in their wake, and feed upon them greedily.
Potted shrimps are considered a dainty, and meet ready sale in the
metropolis as a breakfast relish.
Those _bons vivants_ who are fond of these delicious small fry, will
no doubt eat them with an increased relish after reading the following
paragraph:--
‘The office of shrimps seems to be that analogous to some of the
insects on land, whose task is to clear away the remains of dead animal
matter after the beasts and birds of prey have been satiated. If a dead
small bird or frog be placed where ants can have access to it, those
insects will speedily reduce the body to a closely cleared skeleton.
The shrimp family, acting in hosts, as speedily remove all traces
of fish or flesh from the bones of any dead animal exposed to their
ravages. They are, in short, the principal scavengers of the ocean;
and, notwithstanding their office, they are highly prized as nutritious
and delicious food.’
‘Amongst the shell-fish tribe,’ says a writer in the _Caledonian
Mercury_, ‘the _prawn_ is considered the most delicious, and of course
is the most costly. Prawn-fish, which are about double or three times
the size of a shrimp, are in general sold at the rate of 1_s._ per
dozen. This high price may be owing to their scarcity, in comparison
with the quantity of shrimps sent to market, with a view to give
prawn-fishers encouragement to prosecute the trade. The prawn-fish
are not what many people suppose, ‘only shrimps of a larger size.’
Their heads and fore-claws are differently marked, showing at once the
distinction. The habits of the two fish are also different. The shrimp
burrows in the sand, causing fishermen to use trawl-nets for their
capture. They are caught in greatest numbers on sandbanks, about the
entrance of estuaries. The prawn-fish chiefly locate amongst rocks, and
hard bottom, where there is much tangle and sea-weed. The fishermen
at Bognor, in Sussex, and some place on the Isle of Wight, catch
prawns in wicker-worked baskets, shaped exactly like those wire-worked
rat-traps that have the entrance on the top, so that ‘when the rat
gets in, it can’t get out again.’ Several hundreds of these baskets
baited with any sort of garbage, fish heads, &c., are set amongst the
rocks at low water, where they remain until the tide has flown to its
full, and again ebbed. The baskets are then overhauled, to see what
luck. Prawn-fishing, like every other description of fishing, is not
always to be depended on. Some tides, not one prawn may be found in
hundreds of baskets; at other times every trap may have secured its
victims. From five up to 60, and as high as 70 prawns have at times
been taken in one trap. The baskets with which the English fishermen
catch lobsters are just of the same shape as the prawn-trap, the only
difference being that they are of larger dimensions.’
Immense prawns (_Camaroes_) are very plentiful at Rio Janeiro.
Strangers are often told as a joke, that these are kept in pits, and
fed with the dead bodies of slaves, thrown to them from time to time,
and many people will in consequence not touch them.
The following instructions for cooking shrimps and prawns may be
acceptable in out-of-the-way localities, where they are bought alive
from the fishermen:--
‘To dress shrimps and prawns, so that they might at once be tasty and
look well to the eye, is considered a very nice point for the cook to
perform. A pot, containing a pickle that will nearly float an egg, is
put on the fire. When the pickle begins to boil, the prawns (all alive)
are put into it, which of course sends the pickle below the boiling
point for a time. A brisk fire must be kept up under the pot, and when
the pickle again boils up, the prawns are cooked. Should they not be
boiled sufficiently, they are as soft as pulp, and if boiled too much,
they are hard as horn. The fish are removed from the pot and spread on
a table, sprinkling over them a little salt. A cloth is then thrown
over the whole, which keeps in the steam. By this operation, the steam
melts the salt, and imparts to the prawn that beautiful red and glossy
appearance seen on them whilst in the London fishmongers’ shops.’
It might probably be possible to save some of our refuse shrimps, which
get too stale to find customers here, and dry them for export to the
East, where they are in great demand. The trade in dried shrimps in
Siam amounts to 60 tons a year; and they cannot get enough of them to
pound up with their rice.
Dried prawns form a considerable article of trade in the Philippines.
The Malays and the Siamese, who eat dried prawns and dried mussels,
must have very tough stomachs to digest them, and it would take an
ostrich’s gizzard, one would suppose, to triturate other tough dried
molluscs used, in different localities, such as the _Haliotis_ dried.
Thus the ‘pearl womb,’ as the mantle or flesh of the pearl-oyster
(_Meleagrina margaritifera_) is called, is strung and dried, and when
cooked with cassia buds is eaten with rice. Numerous minute pearls are
often found in this substance (as is sometimes the case with the common
oyster) during mastication.
There is scope enough to be found for drying this mollusc, when
a government pearl fishery is on at Ceylon, for then millions of
pearl-oysters are thrown on the shore, after being opened, and left
there to rot.
Under the name of _Balachong_ or _gnapee_, there is a mess made in
Burmah, Sumatra, &c., of prawns, shrimps, or any cheap fish, pounded
into a consistent mass, and frequently allowed to become partially
putrid. It is largely used by the natives as a condiment to their rice,
as no vegetable food is deemed palatable without it; and a considerable
trade is carried on with it, its use extending to every country from
China to Bengal.
In all populous cities there is great consumption of oysters, both of
the large common kinds termed ‘scuttlemouths’ by the venders, and of
the more expensive and small delicate fed ‘native.’ Even the mangrove
or tree oyster is esteemed in the tropics. One hundred or two hundred
of these parasitic oysters may often be found on a single bough,
pendent in the water, in the rivers of Africa, or the West Indies.
We can well conceive the astonishment of Columbus and his mariners
when, in the Gulf of Paria, they first found oysters clinging to the
branches, their mouths open as was supposed, to receive the dew, which
was afterwards to be transformed into pearls.
The spawn of the fish is attached by a glutinous substance to any
object with which it comes in contact, and the adhesion continues until
the oyster is forcibly removed. On the southern coasts of the United
States, in Florida and Louisiana, oysters may thus be seen growing
as it were on trees, or the limbs at least of those which have sunk
into the water, by the weight of the foliage, or from any other cause.
The opossum and the racoon feed upon these oysters, procuring them by
lifting the boughs from the water, and hence the American name racoon
oysters, a term they are universally known by. They are of a long
slender shape, and growing very rapidly, always have thin and delicate
shells.
The value of the oysters sold in the city of New York now exceeds
£1,250,000 sterling. The money invested in the trade by 150 wholesale
dealers is about £100,000, and the number of persons employed in the
business, directly or indirectly, including saloon keepers, street
venders, &c., is 50,000. Of the whole amount sold in the markets,
about two-thirds come from Virginia, which has a more extensive oyster
trade than any other State in the Union. The residue is obtained,
according to the _New York Herald_, from the waters of their own
State, and those of New Jersey--the East River furnishing the largest
quantity. A considerable supply is procured from Shrewsbury and York
Bay; but very few of the latter are consumed in the city, as they
are cultivated particularly for the western market. One of the most
interesting features in the business is the transplanting of oysters,
or their removal from the ‘rock,’ or natural bed, to an artificial
one. This process is of peculiar importance, and absolutely necessary
to the successful prosecution of the trade. It would, in fact, be
next to impossible to supply the market during the whole year, but
for the general system of transplanting which is pursued by all the
dealers. More than a million dollars’ worth are removed every year
to artificial beds, and by this means prevented from spawning, which
renders them unfit for use. Thus, a large proportion of the East River
oysters were originally obtained from the North River, where the soil
and water are not considered so favourable to their cultivation. Of
the fifty thousand persons engaged in the business, the majority, of
course, are dependent upon their own labour for support; but there are
a considerable number of the dealers, or, as they might more properly
be called, oyster merchants, who possess large fortunes, amassed from
the sale of oysters alone. They are amongst the most worthy of her
citizens, and New York is not a little indebted to their enterprise for
her extensive business in what has now become an indispensable article
of food.
It is only within the last thirty years that the oyster trade was
established in New York. Before that time, it is true, oysters were
sold there; but the business transacted was exceedingly limited, and
there was little or no inducement for persons to engage in it. Nearly
all that were brought to market were procured from the natural beds,
for the benefits to be obtained from planting were but imperfectly
understood by a few of the dealers, or entirely unknown to them. In the
course of a few years, however, the business grew into importance, and
men of capital and enterprise engaged in it. The planting of beds--a
very essential part of the trade--was commenced; the few oyster boats,
of diminutive size, engaged in supplying New York, became an immense
fleet; an extensive trade began with Virginia; the East River became
a mine of wealth to those who worked its beds; the coasts of the bays
and the shores of the rivers were explored and given over to the tongs,
the scraper, and the dredges of the oystermen. It was found that by
removing the oyster from its natural bed to an artificial one, it could
not only be increased in size, but improved in quality, and rendered
fit for use at any period of the year. This was a very important matter
to understand, for there are certain months when the oyster is unfit
for use, in consequence of its being full of spawn. While they remained
in the natural bed, they were always subject to this objection; but
if not permitted to lie too long in the artificial one, they could be
preserved free from spawn. Although they increased in size, they seldom
or never became more numerous by transplanting. Hundreds of vessels are
constantly employed, during certain months, in transplanting in the
East River, in Prince’s Bay, and other parts of the State.
The appended summary will give some further idea of the extent of the
oyster trade in New York:--
Number of boats of all sizes, from fifty to two
hundred and fifty tons, employed in the
trade in Virginia oysters 1,000
In the East and North River trade 200
In the Shrewsbury trade 20
In the Blue Point and Sound trade 100
In the York Bay trade 200
-----
Whole number of boats 1,520
The following table will show the annual amount of sales of all kinds
of oysters by the wholesale dealers in New York:--
Sales of Virginia oysters, including those dollars.
planted in Prince’s Bay 3,000,000
Sales of East and North River oysters 1,500,000
Do. of Shrewsbury oysters 200,000
Do. of Blue Point and Sound oysters 200,000
Do. of York Bay oysters 300,000
---------
Sales 5,200,000
Baltimore is another great seat of the American oyster trade. A single
firm there has amassed, during the last ten years, a fortune of
£500,000, by simply transporting oysters to the Western States, all
of which were obtained at the oyster banks of the eastern shore of
Virginia, and sent over the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Cumberland,
and thence to the Ohio river in stages. The firm paid to this railway
company, in one year, for transporting oysters alone, above £7,000.
Another large and enterprising firm in Baltimore, forwards daily to
the West, by way of the Susquehanna railroad, and the Pennsylvania
improvements, _eight tons_ of oysters, in cans. The operations of this
one concern comprise the opening of _2,500 bushels of oysters per
day_, giving constant employment to 150 men and boys! The shells are
carried for manure to all parts of Virginia and North Carolina. In the
‘shocking’ of oysters, the shells will increase about one fourth in
measurement bulk; this would give a total of about 6,000,000 bushels of
shells, which sell for one penny per bushel, making a return of £25,000
for the shells alone.
The whole shores of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are adapted
to the fattening of the oyster, and as but one year is required for a
full growth in the beds, an immense profit accrues to those engaged
in the business--a profit which is estimated at some 300 to 600 per
cent. There were, a few years ago, 250 vessels engaged in the business,
which averages about 900 bushels to the cargo, and requires nine to ten
days for the trip. These vessels making, in the aggregate, 6,000 trips
during the eight months in the year in which they are engaged, gives a
total of 4,800,000 bushels per year sold in the Baltimore market. The
oysters used to bring an average price of 1_s._ 8_d._ per bushel, which
makes a grand total of £160,000 per year paid wholesale for oysters by
the dealers in Baltimore.
With the spread of population, and the progress of settlement in the
interior States, the price of this shell fish is advancing, for a late
number of the _Baltimore Patriot_ states:--
‘For some time past these delicious bivalves have been very scarce
and in great demand, advancing materially in price. There are several
causes for their upward tendency in value. First, in consequence of
their scarceness, and the difficulty of procuring them, owing to cold,
unfavourable weather. Secondly, an increased demand has sprung up from
the west. Large numbers are being shipped in barrels, in the shell and
otherwise, to Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Wheeling, Louisville,
and, in fact, to almost every town and city beyond the Alleghenies. A
sojourner in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Missouri, or even Iowa and Kansas, may, at this season of the year, sit
down to a dish of fresh oysters, live and kicking, enjoying luxurious
refreshment in comparatively small towns nearly 2,000 miles from
Chesapeake. Large shipments of oysters are also making to New York,
Boston, and various parts of the north, whilst millions are being
put up in cans, hermetically sealed, and sent to all parts of the
world. Not long ago, we saw a friendly letter from the mountains of
Switzerland, boasting that the writer had just partaken of a dish of
delicious Baltimore oysters. It would not surprise us to see the demand
far out-reaching the supply, and a gradual augmentation of price. They
are now bringing 1 dollar 25 cents to 1 dollar 62¾ cents per bushel
at our wharves, and command 9 dollars to 10 dollars per barrel in the
shell at Chicago. Equally high prices are given in all the western
cities.’
In one of his recent messages to the Virginia legislature, Governor
Wise states, that Virginia possesses an area of 1,680,000 acres
of oyster beds, containing about 784,000,000 bushels of oysters.
It is estimated that the mother oyster spawns annually at least
8,000,000; yet, notwithstanding this enormous productive power, and
the vast extent of oyster beds, there is danger of the oyster being
exterminated, unless measures are adopted to prevent fishermen from
taking them at improper seasons of the year.
A bill was lately introduced in the Virginia legislature, the main
features of which are to the following effect:--
1st. Prohibits the taking of oysters by non-residents. 2nd. Provides
for the protection of oyster beds during the spawning season. 3rd.
Taxes on licenses for taking and transporting oysters, calculated to
yield an average of three and a half cents of revenue per bushel. 4th.
The appointment of inspectors, &c., to superintend the renting of
planting grounds. 5th. The purchase and equipment of four steamers for
the enforcement of the law--said steamers to cost a total of 30,000
dollars, and to be employed at a yearly expense of about 7,000 dollars.
The oyster trade is extensively carried on at Boston. Messrs. Atwood
have nine vessels exclusively employed in the business, five of which
are clipper-built schooners, freighting oysters from the south. They
have 75 acres of flats, near what is called White Island, on the Mystic
river, where the fresh oysters of the south are transplanted, to grow
and fatten in water much softer than their native element, and where
they keep a supply in the summer months, and for the winter stock.
It is estimated that the quantity of oysters now planted in the waters
of Newhaven harbour, United States, is 500,000 bushels. Estimating 200
oysters to the bushel, this would give one hundred millions of oysters.
These oysters are for the early fall trade, and are apart from the
enormous quantities imported and opened there during the winter months.
In the Plaquemines region of Louisiana, upwards of 500 men are engaged
in the oyster trade, 150 of which number dredge the oysters from the
bays, the rest are employed in conveying them to New Orleans. For this
purpose, 170 small luggers, sloops, and schooners, of from five to
fifteen tons burthen, are in use for five months in the year. During
the summer months, they find employment in carrying shells from the
islands to the forts and to the city. These made into concrete by a
mortar of lime, sand, and hydraulic cement, form the most substantial
and imperishable wall known. For public works in process of erection,
the city streets, and ornamental walks at private residences, the
collection of oyster shells affords good summer employment to this
class of persons. From the best information to be had on the subject,
the parish of Plaquemines sends a weekly supply to the city of New
Orleans of at least 4,000 barrels of oysters, amounting in value during
the season to about £25,000.