10 



HELL HOLE BAY AND BAYOUS. 



The first bodies of water of any importance to the east- 

 ward of Four League Bay are those known to the oyster men as 

 Big and Little Hell Hole Bayous, Hell Hole Bay, and Little (or 

 second.) Hell Hole Bay, and Bay Castagnet. All these are in- 

 cluded in the area of marsh bounded by Four League Bay on 

 the west, Blue Hammock Bayou on the north, and Bay Junup 

 on the east. These bays have open communication with the 

 Gulf by small bayous ; but there are no connections with the 

 bodies of water to the eastv/ard. There are no oyster reefs of 

 eny importance in these bodies of v;ater; but some small reefs 

 of coon oysters furnish a good part of the seed that is used in 

 making the plants there. The 'water is usually more saline than 

 in the larger bays in this section of the parish, as there is no 

 direct connection with Four League Bay and thus with the 

 fresh water from the Atchafalaya River. The bottom is very 

 soft, both in the bays and bayous, except where there is or ha.^ 

 been a reef of oysters. The food supply was abundant at the 

 times when determinations were made in April and June, 1907. 



Bay Junup, situated some seven miles east from Oyster 

 Bayou, is about five miles long and has a maximum width of 

 from one and one-half to two miles. At its south end there is 

 a communication with the Gulf through Bayou du West, which 

 is about one mile long and one-quarter of a mile wide. From 

 the entrance to Bayou du West there is a narrow channel that 

 runs along the east side of the bay for its entire length, having 

 about ten feet of water in the shallowest places. The water is 

 very shallow, from two to four feet, over all the western part 

 of the bay, except near the entrance to some small bayous on 

 the west side, and, during low tides in winter, the crests of a 

 great many of the reefs are exposed. Practically the whole of the 

 shallow western part of the bay is covered with scattered reefs, 

 most of them of small extent with patches of very deep soft 

 mud between. The oysters making up the most of these reefs 

 are small, densely crowded, and of very poor quality, so that 

 they are not suitable for the market. On some of the reefs in 

 the northwestern part of the bay there are, however, some good 

 marketable oysters, and on the deep reefs in the channel at the 

 entrance to Buckskin Bay there are good-sized oysters; but 



