Of Muscles And Cockles

Muscles that are fat, white, and new, are very nourishing, and very easy of digestion. They are never eaten raw, but are put in a sauce-pan over the fire to stew in their own liquor till they are all open, and then they are done enough. It is well known that some, after eating muscles, have been so puffed up and swelled as if they had taken poi son : the speediest remedy in this cafe, is a vomit with oily fat things. Some attribute this effect to a small crab which is sometimes sound in these shells; but those that are taken near Copperas or Brass works will always produce this pernicious accident: otherwise they appear to me to be very wholesome, never overloading the stomach, nor causing the least inconvenience. They are best in cold weather, and when taken in or near the sea.

Cockles are of the same nature, and are equally nourishing, but they give some trouble to clear them from the sand. They are never eaten raw.

Of Tortoises Or Sea-Turtles

Tortoises are reckoned a delicacy abroad, and are often imported into this nation, with intent to feast particular persons. There are several sorts, but the green and loggerhead are moil in vogue. They lay a prodigious number of eggs of the size of a hen's, which are eaten very greedily by sailors. The flesh of a tortoise has a very agreeable taste, and resembles beef, though others fay veal : the fat looks green, is very sweet, and sits easy on the stomach, though it will sometimes happen that those who are not used to this kind of meat will find it a little purgative at first. It is very nourish-ing, restorative, and very proper for consump-tive persons. They are of different sizes according to their age, and some have weighed four hundred pounds. In Jamaica it is to be sound in the markets like beef or mutton, and is reckoned useful against the scurvy, gout, leprosy, French pox, and many disorders of the skin.