Capeling is a small fish like a smelt.
The Turtle or Tortoise is of two sorts Sea-Turtles and land-Turtles: of Sea-Turtles there are five sorts, of land-Turtles three sorts, one of which is a right land-turtle that seldom or never goes into the water, the other two being the River-Turtle, and the pond-Turtle: there are many of these in the brooke Chyson in the Holy land. The ashes of a Sea-Turtle mixt with oyl or Bears-grease causeth hair to grow: the shell of a land-Turtle burnt and the ashes dissolved in wine and oyl to an unguent healeth chaps and sores of the feet: the flesh burnt and the ashes mixt with wine and oyl healeth sore legs: the ashes of the burnt shell and the whites of eggs compounded together healeth chaps in womens nipples; and the head pulverized with it prevents the falling of the hair, and will heal the Hemorrhoids, first washing of them with white-wine, and then strewing on the powder.
Lobster, which some say is at first a whelk, I have seen a Lobster that weighed twenty pound, they cast their shell-coats in the spring, and so do Crabs; having underneath a thin red skin which growes thicker and [p. 110.] hard in short time. The Indians feed much upon this fish, some they rost, and some they dry as they do Lampres and Oysters which are delicate breakfast meat so ordered, the Oysters are long shell’d, I have had of them nine inches long from the joynt to the toe, containing an Oyster like those the Latines called Tridacuan that were to be cut into three pieces before they could get them into their mouths, very fat and sweet.
The Muscle is of two sorts, Sea-muscles in which they find Pearl and river-muscles. Sea-muscles dryed and pulverized and laid upon the sores of the Piles and hemorrhoids with oyl will perfectly cure them.
The Whore is a shell-fish, the shells are called whores-eggs, being fine round white shells, in shape like a Mexico pompion, but no bigger than a good large Hens-egg; they are wrought down the sides with little knobs and holes very prettily, but are but thin and brittle.
The Perriwig is a shell-fish that lyeth in the Sands flat and round as a shovel-board piece and very little thicker; these at a little hole in the middle of the shell thrust out a cap of hair, but upon the least motion of any danger it drawes it in again.
Trouts there be good store in every brook, ordinarily two and twenty inches [p. 111.] long, their grease is good for the Piles and clifts.
The Eal is of two sorts, salt-water Eals and fresh-water Eals; these again are distinguished into yellow bellied Eals and silver bellied Eals; I never eat better Eals in no part of the world that I have been in, than are here. They that have no mind or leasure to take them, may buy of an Indian half a dozen silver bellied Eals as big as those we usually give 8 pence or 12 pence a piece for at London, for three pence or a groat. There is several wayes of cooking them, some love them roasted, others baked, and many will have them fryed; but they please my palate best when they are boiled, a common way it is to boil them in half water, half wine with the bottom of a manchet, a fagot of Parsley, and a little winter savory, when they are boiled they take them out and break the bread in the broth, and put to it three or four spoonfuls of yest, and a piece of sweet butter, this they pour to their Eals laid upon sippets and so serve it up. I fancie my way better which is this, after the Eals are fley’d and washt I fill their bellies with Nutmeg grated and Cloves a little bruised, and sow them up with a needle and thred, then I stick a Clove here and there in their sides about an inch asunder, [p. 112.] making holes for them with a bodkin, this done I wind them up in a wreath and put them into a kettle with half water and half white wine-vinegar, so much as will rise four fingers above the Eals, in midst of the Eals I put the bottom of a penny white loaf, and a fagot of these herbs following, Parsley one handful, a little sweet Marjoram, Peniroyal and Savory, a branch of Rosemary, bind them up with a thred, and when they are boiled enough take out the Eals and pull out the threds that their bellies were sowed up with, turn out the Nutmeg and Cloves, put the Eals in a dish with butter and vinegar upon a chafing-dish with coals to keep warm, then put into the broth three or four spoonfuls of good Ale-yeast with the juice of half a Lemmon; but before you put in your yeast beat it in a porringer with some of the broth, then break the crust of bread very small and mingle it well together with the broth, pour it into a deep dish and garnish it with the other half of the Lemmon, and so serve them up to the Table in two dishes.
The Frost fish is little bigger than a Gudgeon and are taken in fresh brooks; when the waters are frozen they make a hole in the Ice about half a yard or yard wide, to which the fish repair in great numbers, where with [p. 113.] small nets bound to a hoop about the bigness of a firkin-hoop with a staff fastned to it they lade them out of the hole. I have not done with the fish yet, being willing to let you know all of them that are to be seen and catch’d in the Sea and fresh waters in New-England, and because I will not tire your patience overmuch, having no occasion to enlarge my discourse, I shall only name them and so conclude.