OYSTER-BEDS OF LOUISIANA. 75 



and tlieie appear to be no immediate grounds for apprehension of 

 failure. Several of the 03'ster-reefs in Sister Lake are sometimes over- 

 grown with mussels to an extent that renders tonging upon them 

 unprofitable. The density is about 1.0120. 



Bay Voisin leads from the southeast corner of Sister Lake to King 

 Lake, an L-shaped body of water, with one limb running east and west 

 and the other approximately north and south. There is one bed of 

 raccoon oysters in King* Lake, and there are also some very fine oysters 

 there and in Bay Voisin, but they are getting somewhat less abundant 

 than they have been. Some of the oystermen predict a rapid depletion 

 of the beds, owing to the attacks of snails, which are said to be becom- 

 ing more common than formerly. 



In Lake Washa there are numerous reefs of rather inferior "coony" 

 oysters, covered with barnacles and bearing evidence of having for- 

 merly borne large numbers of mussels, of which only the byssi now 

 remain. These reefs have not been extensively worked heretofore, but 

 during the present spring (1898) a number of boats were fishing for 

 Morgan City canneries, and several of the men engaged indicated their 

 intention of getting seed from this lake for the purpose of planting in 

 Jack Stout Bay and Bayou. If this be done and the young oysters be 

 taken promiscuously in the usual manner, we may expect the usual 

 results. The density here is about 1.0092. 



In Banana Bayou, which is that part of Bayou de Large of the maps 

 lying between Sister Lake and Lake Washa, there are young oysters 

 growing over ijractically the entire bottom, and they are frequently 

 found attached to branches of trees and brush along the banks. This 

 bayou is said to have derived its name from the tact that the oysters 

 found here when the bed was first worked were elongate and in clusters 

 like bananas. The lower end of Bayou de Large, together with the 

 branch which discharges King Lake, is known to the oystermen as 

 Taylor Bayou. It contains some oyster-beds, but none of importance. 



Big and Little Bays Geuope (or Genoble?) lie immediately to the 

 westward of Bayou Taylor and have an independent communication 

 with the sea. They are both very shallow and have a narrow channel 

 running through them. Here are found dense reefs of raccoon oysters, 

 exposed at low water, when they are gathered into piles to be loaded 

 on the boats when the tide rises. These raccoon oysters are used 

 principally for planting in Bayou Jack Stout, Bayou Proven5al, and 

 Indian Bay, all of which lie on the east side of Bayou Taylor. 



In Oyster Bayou there are a number of natural reefs of raccoon 

 oysters, both along the banks and in the middle of the bayou. The 

 number of good round oysters is small. 



There are a few beds of inferior oysters near the southern end of 

 Four League Bay and near the mouth of Blue Hammock Bayou. Last 

 year (1897) there was a set of spat in Blue Hammock and the young- 

 ones are now being secured for planting purposes. Oysters have 

 existed here before, but were killed off by fresh water. 



