however that a firm and well consolidated surface some- 

 what akin to that forming the core of the central Mats is 

 found beneath the masses of sand which westerly winds 

 have piled upon the littoral. As is to be expected this 

 substratum contains a larger proportion of sand and 

 smaller quantity of mud than is found in its parallel 

 layer on the Mats. To form a park on the littoral of the 

 Cape Ferret peninsula, the stiff substratum has to be 

 exposed by the laborious and costly removal of the 

 overlying sand, a work to be faced only by those who 

 can afford to incur such heavy capital expenditure. The 

 work has been faced in thorough fashion ; hopper barges 

 have been built capable of loading large quantities of 

 sand and to facilitate disposal of the spoil, drop-doors 

 of primitive but effective pattern are fitted in the bottom. 

 At one end a little cabin is provided for the accommo- 

 dation of the workpeople (Plate i, figure 8). Parks 

 formed in this manner are esteemed most highly, and some 

 have changed hands at as much as 40,000 francs per 

 hectare while the proprietor of one which I inspected 

 informed me that he would not sell his under 50,000 

 francs the hectare ; at this he would even be loth to sell 

 as on the one hand the cost of bringing the ground into 

 working order is very heavy and on the other the value 

 of parks such as this for rapidly rearing and fattening 

 oysters is correspondingly high. 



(5) The form and preparation of the Collectors. 



The tiles employed at Arcachon as spat collectors 

 are large and massive, markedly convex along their 

 length. The pattern is the same as that of the so- 

 called " country tiles " inordinary use in India, but of 

 larger dimensions. That in use at Arcachon is the 

 " Gironde " tile, a variety longer, broader, and thicker 

 than the ordinary pattern employed for roofing purposes, 

 characteristics which experience has demonstrated to 

 render this pattern more suitable for oyster culture 

 where strength is a chief desideratum. 



