788 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



the exposed deep-water areas ; and frequently a favouring 

 gale would cause cessation of all operations, that a hasty 

 run to port for necessary stores might be made. It was 

 necessary to go from fifty to one hundred miles for drinking- 

 water, coal, provisions, and medical attendance, and the 

 delay consequent upon th'is necessity was most seriously 

 felt throughout the prosecution of the work. Operations 

 carried on under such conditions necessarily became dis- 

 junctive and unfinished : but time only was necessary for 

 their entire correlation and completion. 



The inclement weather peculiar to Pamplico Sound, 

 and the neighbourhood of Cape Hatteras, caused a great 

 deal of vexatious delay ; on an average fully one-third of 

 the working days have been lost from this cause. Coupled 

 with the bad weather, especially during the spring and 

 autumn (otherwise the best months), has been the bad 

 health of both officers and men. Out of the small comple- 

 ment allowed, the loss of even one man is seriously felt ; 

 yet it has been a frequent occurrence to have one-third or 

 one-half the working force incapacitated. 



. . . . Notwithstanding the many difficulties with 

 which the party has had to contend, it is believed that no 

 other in the field has accomplished a larger amount of 

 work in the same space of time, or at so small an expense, 

 as is shown by the following summary of observations and 

 results : 



Summary of Work. 



Area of beds located, acres 8,327.90 



Area of public grounds located 20,553.1 1 



No. miles soundings and dredging lines .... 1,712 



No. soundings recorded 150,660 



No. angles taken, afloat 1 5,902 



