s pleased me much, and therefore, I will
conclude they gave the same satisfaction to others.

The oysters lasted till the third day of the feast, which to be
sure, proves that the methods of keeping them is good, although
much disputed by others.

July, 1776. Last night my cart came up from John E. Beale for iron
pots to make salt out of the bay water, which cart brought me eight
bushels oysters. I ordered them for family and immediate use. As we
are obliged to wash the salt we had of Col. Tayloe, I have ordered
that washing be carried into the vault and every oyster dipped into
it over all and then laid down on the floor again.... Out of the
eight bushels oysters I had six pickled and two bushels for
dressing. But I was asked why Beale sent oysters up in July. I
answered it was my orders. Who would eat oysters in July said the
mighty man; and the very day showed he not only could eat them but
did it in every shape, raw, stewed, caked in fritters and pickled.

George Washington, too, was an oyster fancier as this note to his New
York friend George Taylor shows:

Mt. Vernon, 1786. Sir: ... Mrs. Washington joins me in thanking you
also for your kind present of pickled oysters which were very fine.
This mark of your politeness is flattering and we beg you to accept
every good wish of ours in return.

When in 1770 a notice appeared in the _Virginia Gazette_ about the
proposed academy in New Kent County an added attraction was featured:
"Among other things the fine fishery at the place will admit of an
agreeable and salutary exercise and amusement all the year." It was the
Chickahominy river, a tributary of the James, that was referred to.
Fishing is still "agreeable" there. Citizens of Richmond,
recreation-bent, throng to it along with the residents of its banks,
many of whom make their living out of it. This is one of the sections
where the water, though tidal, is fresh. Anadromous herring, shad, rock
and sturgeon are caught. Unlike the salty bay, fish can be caught here
the year round. Among them are catfish, carp, perch and bass.

One of the most accurate and vivid reporters of Colonial Virginia
plantation life was Philip Vickers Fithian, tutor to the family of
Councillor Robert Carter of Nominy Hall on the lower Potomac river. In
his _Journals_ are appetizing references to seafood:

1774, March: With Mr. Randolph, I went a-fishing, bu