30 



II. DESCRIPTION OP THE ISLANDS. 



The islands in the Chandeleur region form a crescent- 

 shaped chain nearly forty-five miles long, lying twenty-five 

 miles southeast from Gulfport, Miss. Several smaller islands 

 lying west of the main chain were also visited. The crescent, 

 which extends in a general direction north and south, lies about 

 twenty miles east of the marsh lands of St. Bernard Parish, and 

 includes the following islands: Chandeleur, Errol and Breton. 

 The small islands lying to the westward are North Harbor, New 

 Harbor, Freemason and Old Harbor Islands. 



Chandeleur Island is the largest and most important of the 

 group. It is a low, narrow island, varying from about one hun- 

 dred yards to over a mile in width, and about thirty-five miles 

 long. Near the eastern side is a low sand ridge, raised in places 

 into mounds less than twenty-five feet high. The island west 

 of this ridge is lower and covered with a growi:h of coarse 

 grasses and low bushes. This "marsh," which contains many 

 small water holes, is more or less cut up by narrow, usually 

 shallow bayous. The island consequently has the appearance 

 from this side of being a chain of small grassy islets. In reality 

 the eastern ridge is continuous throughout nearly its entire 

 Length. About a mile from the north end the Chandeleur light- 

 house is located, and two or three miles below this are two 

 gi-oups of abandoned buildings, formerly the United States 

 Quarantine Station. No other buildings are found on any of 

 the islands. 



From the eastern shore, which is exposed to the open gulf, 

 the bottom deepens rapidly, but on the protected western side 

 a wide shallow flat extends for upwards of a mile and a half. 

 This flat is protected from water on the inside channel by a 

 sandy ridge (or bar) which is almost uncovered at low tide. 

 Gaps occur in this bar at several places, w^hich enable shallow 

 draught boats to pass over and anchor in the quiet water inside. 

 The inclosed flat, covered with from; three to seven feet of 

 vi'ater in the deeper portions, shoals gradually to the shore. The 

 bottom is a soft, slightly sticky mud, almost entirely covered 

 M'ith eel grass and algae. Close to the marsh the character of 



