30 



From the north side of Bay St. Helene, a deep narrow pass 

 leads into Coonrod Bay. There are a number of small reefs in 

 the pass between these bays, but the oysters on them are of poor 

 quality and the aggregate area of all the reefs is not sufficient to 

 make them of any commercial importance. 



The water is from three to five feet deep in Coonrod Bay, 

 and the bottom is almost invariably soft. In Coonrod Bayou, 

 and another bayou going off from the west side of this bay, there 

 are considerable areas of finn bottom in the channels 'eovered 

 by eight to twenty-five feet of water. No oysters were found in 

 these bayous, except some small ones in the shallow water along 

 the banks. 



The salinity of the water in Coonrod Bay was 1.0158, the 

 food supply being more abundant than in Bay St. Helene. 



On the north side of Coonrod Bay there is a broad pass to 

 Bayou Little Caillou, and about one-half mile below this point, 

 on the opposite side of the bayou, there are several passes leading 

 to Bay Premier. 



Bay Premier, the farthest south of the shallow bays on the 

 west side of Cat Island Lake, is about one mile long, with an 

 average width of some seven-eighths of a mile. On the east 

 side it is connected with an arm of Cat Island Lake by a deep 

 pass. On the north side there are several passes to Oyster Bay. 

 The depth of water over the greater part of the bay is about 

 three feet, the only deep plac ebeing near the entrance of the 

 pass on the east side. The bottom is soft wherever it has not 

 been hardened by the old reefs or the application of oyster 

 shells. 



The salinity of the water was 1.0164, the amount of oyster 

 food in the water being fairly large. 



In Oyster Bay, next north of Bay Premier, the water is from 

 three to four and one-half feet deep, and the bottom is soft out- 

 side of the leased areas. There were formerly many productive 

 reefs in this bay, but the areas where they were located have 

 been taken up for bedding grounds. 



The average salinity of the water was 1.0158. The amount 

 of oyster food in the water was large. 



Bay Couteau, which lies northwest of Oyster Bay and com- 

 municates with the latter through a deep pass, is about two 



