Age of Exploration: New Worlds with new Oysters John McCabe

Intro  Exploration

It is one thing to discover an attractive new land mass with lots of nice trees and pretty birds. It is quite another additionally returning home with a trunk full of exquisite pearls. The pearl oysters of South and Central America were inadvertently the principal driving force behind the amazingly rapid rate of initial exploration (and exploitation) of the Americas. Over night, "America" became known as "The Land of Pearls". This fueled dreams of riches all over Europe and sent explorers literally scrambling to get a piece of the action. North America, for the most part, did not have much to offer in terms of pearl oysters. However, certain freshwater mussels found there also produced lots of pearls. The delicious Eastern Oyster, although meaningless in terms of pearls, was abundant and helped save early settlers from certain starvation on more than one occasion.

Much like their contemporaries in the arts and sciences, the explorers of the renaissance also had tapped into the knowledge of the ancients. The Greeks had already suspected that the Earth was round. Aristotle believed in the possibility of reaching India in a westerly direction. The Greek mathematician and geographer Eratosthenes is thought to have already calculated the earth's circumference in 240 BC.

It may also be conceivable, and this is pure conjecture on my part, that the Vikings may also have indirectly furnished information regarding western sea routs and their discoveries in North America around the year 1000. There is evidence that the Vikings traded in far away places like the East Roman capital Constantinople later called Istanbul). Sailors often love to talk and news like that would have likely turned heads and been noted by the East Romans. The Vikings were excellent navigators and warriors, yet lousy at keeping historical records. They are one reason why the Middle Ages are sometimes also referred to as the "Dark Ages". This was not the case with the East Romans. They kept excellent historical records and there was no such thing as the "Dark Ages" in the East Roman Empire. On the contrary: Constantinople was not only the premier trading city of Eastern Europe throughout the Middle Ages, it was also a powerful information hub. Many sailors and traders from far away places would frequent this city and share all kinds of information. Possibly the news of the successful westerly passage by the Vikings was then also transmitted and may have later been passed on to the Italians by the Roman and Greek intellectuals that had fled to Italy.

Many explorers like the Portuguese João Vaz Corte-Real and Italian Giovanni Caboto (a.k.a. John Cabot, sailing under the English flag) daringly set sail. There existed a common belief during those times that the Earth was flat. Anyone, who ventured out far enough, would undoubtedly meet his fate by abruptly falling off the edge of the world. Lots of sailors had already departed on exploratory missions and never returned. Most experienced renaissance navigators of the high seas likely were quite amused by this common "flat Earth" belief. It, however, hardly helped them find good crews for their ships, as common sailors did not find it amusing at all. Hence, many explorers were also flamboyant salesmen, offsetting low pay with pretty pictures of fame and riches. More often than not, their crews contained a large percentage of misfits and ex-prisoners, pardoned by the crown specifically for services on these ships. The explorers often ruled their ships with an iron fist, as the most dangerous component of a long journey could very well be their own crew. They also had plenty of other worries. Financing such a trip in the first place was very expensive. The available maps were sketchy at best and a few degrees off course could mean certain disaster. The distance calculations were often underestimated. Storms, mutinies and/or a sudden outbreak of some particularly nasty disease on board could end a voyage brutally. If they actually did reach land again, they often could only speculate as to where they were in relation to the rest of the largely unknown world - let alone anticipating what unpleasant surprises might be lurking in the bushes. The explorers of those days were undoubtedly a very courageous bunch of guys. The lure of personal fame and fortune was certainly the driving force in most of the many 16th and 17th century explorers.

The most famous explorer in history, the Italian Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506), also became deeply convinced that the ancient geographical theories had great merit. To make a long and exciting story short: Columbus started knocking on various royal doors to get an expedition to the "West India" financed. In April 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand II of Spain agreed to finance three ships for such a journey (the famous Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria). Simultaneously Columbus was handed a "shopping list" by the royals, which included "pearls, jewels, gold, silver and spices". Columbus in turn managed to work out a very nice deal for himself in terms of high percentages and lucrative claims associated with potential discoveries. Unbeknownst to Columbus, he inadvertently discovered the Caribbean and South America instead of India.

After his first trip Columbus reported seeing "oysters growing on branches" and lots of mussels, which were likely to be signs of potentially many pearls.
Incidentally the mysterious "Tree Oysters" were much later again reported by the flamboyant English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) after his return from Trinidad. Raleigh was known to embellish his discoveries with a fair dose of pure fantasy from time to time. His report on the "Tree oysters" thus caused hearty amusement in the English court. Raleigh, however, was telling the truth. He had observed either the so called "Coon Oyster" or the Mangrove Oyster - or likely both. They both grow on the stilt like roots of mangroves. Exposed at low tide, the roots do look a tad like branches. The Coon Oyster (Isognomon alatus), although shape wise reminiscent of a small oyster, is actually a mussel. It derives it's colloquial name from the fact that raccoons delight in their consumption. Raccoons also like the Mangrove Oyster (Crassostrea rhizophorae), a real oyster by any standard and prized as a delicacy. It is still harvested commercially today in Jamaica and Brazil.

On his second expedition in 1493, Columbus proceeded to harvest and open enormous quantities of oysters and mussels in the areas of Cuba and Jamaica. He reported them to be edible, yet without pearls. Likely he had discovered the delicious Mangrove Oyster (Crassostrea rhizophorae) and Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica). On his third expedition in 1498, this time setting out with six ships, he finally reached the East Coast of South America (Venezuela). He was delighted to discover that the Indians he found there were wearing beautiful pearls. His crews started trading all kinds of stuff (scissors, shards of porcelain, buttons...) for pearls. Remembering the opening of countless oysters in vain back on his second trip, it seems more than likely that Columbus was keen to find out, just what kind of mollusk these pearls came from, hence discovering the pearl oyster known today as Pinctada imbricata.

In a subsequent discovery report for the royal court, Columbus unfortunately "forgot" to mention the discovery of pearls to the Spanish king and queen. Shortly thereafter some of his sailors returned to Spain and started to peddle their pearls privately. The royal court got wind of this and felt betrayed. They concluded understandably that Columbus had not mentioned the pearls on purpose. All the deals with Columbus were off. The navigator of the Columbus ship Santa Maria was authorized by the royal court to sail right back to that same pearl spot on the coast of Venezuela and bring back as many pearls as possible. In June of 1499 he set sail and returned to Spain in 1500 with 43 kg (almost 95 lb) of fine pearls.

Columbus in turn was arrested and thrown in jail. Queen Isabella felt sorry for Columbus and sprang him soon after his incarceration. In 1502, he set sail again for his fourth and last expedition. He explored the Central American East Coast. He died in Spain in 1506.

The Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa reached the West Coast of Central America in 1513 and sighted the Pacific Ocean. The natives there showed him spectacular pearls. They originated from the noble La Paz pearl oyster native to this Pacific region. They also spoke of even greater pearls to the North. Hernando Cortés, often remembered as a particularly ruthless Spanish Conquistador, conquered this northern region (known today as Mexico) between 1519 and 1521.

The historian R.A. Donkin studied the Spanish "Quinto" or "Royal Fifth". He found that between 1513 and 1540 the quinta of the pearl island Cubagua amounted to 2.375 kg (5.236 lb) of pearls. The total harvest would hence have amounted to 11.875 kg (26.179 lb). This translates into approximately 100 million typical natural pearls. This estimate is considered conservative. Many pearl oysters either don't contain natural pearls or the pearls are simply too small to be marketable. One can thus only imagine, just how many pearl oysters had to be killed for such an enormous yield. The fierce carnage of the South and Central American pearl oysters continued right into the later part of the 19th century. The meat of the pearls oysters, being of no significant culinary value, was fed to the grotesquely abused Indian slaves. The rest of the oyster meat was fed to livestock or used as fertilizer.

Another Spanish conquistador by the name of Juan Ponce de León discovered Florida in 1513. The Spanish named a vast coastal region reaching clear to the Carolinas "La terra florida" ("The flowery land"). It was (and is) also home to the delicious Eastern Oyster.

In the early 1600s settlements started springing up along the East Coast of North America. Although the European settlers were very familiar with oysters, it was only in terms of the significantly different European Oyster (Ostrea edulis). These oysters were different. They were bigger, sort of oval and elongated instead of "roundish looking". The only thing these oysters actually had in common with their European cousins, was their fantastic taste. Native American Indians soon taught the settlers all about where and how to harvest this novel delicacy.

In 1607, an English settlement called Jamestown was established about 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near the banks of the James River. A local Algonquin Indian tribe called the Powhatan had named this bay "Chesepiook", which means "the great shellfish bay".
The leader of the settlement, the renowned English explorer Captain John Smith, and a few men left Jamestown in 1608 to have the Indians show them more of this spectacular bay. This was no pleasure excursion, but rather driven by the prospect of possibly finding new sources of badly needed food. In 1609, Smith suffered a severe gunpowder burn. In October he returned to England for treatment. After his departure, Jamestown was subject to a severe winter. Only 60 of the original 214 settlers survived by leaving Jamestown and migrating down to the mouth of the James River. They ultimately owed their survival to the consumption of oysters and other shellfish gathered there.

In 1634, the Englishman Leonard Calvert, along with 140 settlers, established a settlement called St. Mary's City on the Chesapeake Bay. The town prospered and grew rapidly. By 1670, it was considered the capital of the Maryland region (the capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695). Between 1670 and 1690, something very significant happened. The oysters in the waters around St. Mary's City disappeared. The Chesapeake Bay, for the first time, had sent a clear warning to the settlers that its natural resources of oysters were fragile and certainly not infinite. Conservation efforts, however, were understandably not on the agenda of the early settlers.

About two days under sail north of the Chesapeake Bay, there existed another beautiful region. When the English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into this wonderous place in 1609, he surely could not believe his eyes. The air was fresh and sweet, fish and game abounded, many streams and rivers flowed into a magnificent bay and the local Indian tribe, the Lenape, seemed glad to see him. Although he was not the first to discover this pristine paradise, he certainly was the first to rave about it to his employers (the Dutch at that time). In 1624, the New Netherland Province was established in this area. In 1625, the Dutch West India Company founded a fortified city called New Amsterdam on the island of Manhatten. It grew into the largest Dutch colonial settlement in this province (later in history to become known as New York City). The coastal waters around New Amsterdam contained a seemingly infinite supply of oysters. For a few decades to follow, any kind of local "oyster business" was unthinkable. All the townspeople had to do, is just walk down to the shore and pick up as many as their hearts desired. Things changed, however, in 1658, when the Dutch Council issued an ordinance forbidding the harvest of oysters in close proximity to the settlement. The oysters had by now become quite scarce. Townspeople were now obligated to venture out a little further to collect their oysters. Although this was merely a minor inconvenience, it was nonetheless an early sign, that the oyster supply is hardly infinite and not readily replenished once exploited.