44 



The salinity of the water was 1.0126, and was decidedly in- 

 fluenced by the freshets. The amount of oyster food was smaller 

 than "in most of the neighboring bodies of water. 



In the marsh between Lake Tambour and Lake Felicity, 

 there are a number of small bayous and ponds, but none of 

 them contain any oyster reefs of any commercial importance. 

 All of them are, moreover, too small to be of any special value 

 for cultural purposes. 



The conditions as regards the salinity of the water and the 

 amount of oyster food that it contains, are very similar to those 

 found in the larger bodies of water bounding this area. 



Along the south side of Lake Barre, near its easterly i-nd, 

 there are several bays which have communication both with this 

 lake and with Timbalier Bay. Two of these, Bay Jacko and 

 Bay Baptiste, are by far the largest, and as they possess all of 

 the characteristics of the smaller ones, will alone be discussed. 



Bay Baptiste is about two miles long and one and one-half 

 miles wide. It is separated from the adjacent bodies of water 

 by small islands between which there are passes, where the 

 water is two or three times as deep as in the bo<'!y of the bay. 

 Ihe average depth of the water is about three feet over the open 

 portion of the bay, while near the southern end the depth in- 

 creases to ten feet. A large part of the whole area of the bottom 

 — as much as forty per cent— is covered with the remains of old 

 reefs, and is very hard, although in many instances all of the 

 reef except the crest has been covered by a deposit of sediment 

 several inches in thickness. Between the reefs the bottom is made 

 up of very deep soft mud. 



East of Bay Baptiste, Jacko Pass extends from Lake Barre 

 to Timbalier Bay. In its upper portion the water is from four 

 to six feet deep and the bottom soft. In the middle portion the 

 greater part of the bottom is covered with the remains of the old 

 reefs. Many of these reefs are covered by only one to three feet 

 of Avater. and the bottom is very soft between them. In the 

 scuthern part of the pass the depth of the water is from six to 

 twelve feet, and there are old reefs over the greater part of 

 this area. 



Bay Jacko extends east from this pass for some two miles, 

 and has an arm extending to the south for one mile or more. In 



