GENERAL DESCRIPTIOS OF THE REGION INCLUDED 

 IN THIS STUDY. 



The area included withiu the limits of this investigation 

 extends from Atehafalaya Bay on the west, np to and includ- 

 ing the western part of Tinibalier Bay on the east. Withiu 

 this area there are two large open bodies of water— Pelto Lake 

 knd Cat Island Lake (Terrebonne Bay of the government 

 charts). These are separated from the Gulf oi Mexico by a 

 chain of narrow islands, between which there are several passes 

 aftording a ready access for the saline waters of the Gulf. 

 Farther inland the bodies of water are smaller, and consist of 

 bays and bayous, cutting up the low-lying marsh into inniuner- 

 able islands, which vary from one to several acres in extent. 



Over all of the region north of the larger lakes the water 

 covers a considerably larger area than the land, which con- 

 sists entirely of marsh usually only a few inches above the 

 water, or even overflowed at ordinary high tides. In some few 

 instances there are found, along the bayous, or on the outer 

 sides of the islands to the west of Bayou Caramboque, banks 

 some few feet above the surrounding marsh, and many of tliese 

 places have been utilized by the oyster men as locations for the 

 camps in which they live during the summer to watch their 

 leases. 



The bayons are in most cases rather deep and narrow, 

 with mud flats along one or both sides, and frequently with 

 shallow reefs of oysters or dead shell in the channel. Practic- 

 ally all of them have their greatest depth near the mouth, 

 and in no instance is there a well-defined bar at the outlet. 



The lakes and bays are shallow bodies of water, usually 

 with a level floor composed of soft mud. except where there is 

 or has been an oyster reef. In some of the larger bays, in the 

 western part of the parish, there is a well-defined channel, on 

 one side of the bay, where the water is much deeper than over 

 the other parts, affording a passage for good-sized boats. 



Throughout the region under eonsideration. but especially 

 in the part East of Lake Pelto, there are rapid and extensive 



