J232 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



almost the only evidence we have collected that interferes 

 with the theory of tranquillity ; the reason is that the mud 

 in a slimy state is deposited or settled on the appareil col- 

 lecleiir, and prevents the spat taking a firm hold. 



At the He de Re, in 1868, a comparatively small spat of 

 oysters had fallen at La Moulinade, on the west side of the 

 island, whereas at Chanchardon, on the east side, the fall 

 of spat was quite up to the mark. The cause of this was 

 assigned to the power of the wind to shift the mud ; the 

 same wind which brought ill-luck to the west side of the 

 island naturally brought good-luck to the east. 



Mr. Buckland, who was at the He de R6 at the time, 

 found, upon examining the oyster pares at La Moulinade, 

 that they were in many localities mudded up, but that on 

 the other side of the island the stones on the foreshore were 

 clean. At Rivedoux, this wind had covered the tiles with 

 mud to the extent of sixty or seventy centimetres (about 

 two feet) deep. A calm coming immediately after heavy 

 waves allowed the mud to drop from the dirty water, and to 

 settle on the young spat and smother them. These mud 

 storms, the same authority continues, " are particularly 

 unfavourable to foreshore cultivation, inasmuch as the 

 oysters cannot be dredged and cleaned from the sediment 

 which has fallen on them ; but it does not apply to our 

 English system, because we can gradually clean the mud 

 away with a dredge." Again, it should be observed that all 

 places are not liable to mud storms ; but a bank of loose 

 mud should always be regarded as a dangerous neighbour 

 by the owner of an oyster-pare or laying. 



The flats at Whitstable consist of shelly ground, clay 

 and muddy sand ; the fishermen say that the oyster prefers 



