46 



among them. The shells were all separated and the hinges en- 

 tirely disintegrated, in every case showing that the oysters had 

 been dead for a number of years. 



The presence of these shells may be accounted for in part 

 by some facts given in an article, "The Oyster in Louisiana,"' 

 by John Dymond, Jr., which appeared in the first biennial re- 

 port of the Oyster Commission of Louisiana. ]\Ir. Dymond says, 

 page 89 : " For instance, the water from the Nita crevasse 

 killed all the oysters in the parish of St. Bernard. The point 

 or proper mixture of fresh and salt water was, by this excess of 

 fresh water, extended or pushed much farther into the salt water 

 of Chandeleur Sound, and at this new point of proper mixtur? 

 oysters were, at once found to begin to grow. When the crevasse 

 was closed the old conditions gradually established themselves; 

 the oysters in the sea were in time impoverished or made thin 

 and of little value by the excess of salt water, and the oysters 

 grew again on the old shells and reefs in St. Bernard. The 

 proper line of water mixture gradually moving backward to 

 the shore?^ 



OYSTERS AT THE CHANDELEUR ISLANDS. 



The Chandeleur Islands, throughout their entire length of 

 thirty-five miles consist of a narrow sand spit, with a hard bea-"h 

 on the east side, which is exposed to the open gulf. On the 

 west side, except for a few places where the entire width of th? 

 island is below the level of very high tides, there is a s^rip of 

 marsh varying in width from one hundred yards to more than 

 two miles. This marshy area is cut up by a great number of 

 small inlets .or bayou^ running in from the shallow flats on the 

 west side of the islands, while the surface of the marsh is dott'^d 

 with shallow pools varying in size from those having an area of 

 not more than a couple of square yards to some several acres i;i 

 extent. Most of the inlets have a high sand bar at their mouths 

 so that at low tide they were cut off from the sound, while inside 

 the bar the water is from a few inches to ten feet in depth. 

 The bottom of the pools is composed of soft, deep mud, and i^' 

 in most cases devoid of any vegetation. Only a few of thesv^ 

 ]^ools have direct communication with the bayous except in 

 time of storms when the whole marsh is flooded, so that the 



