378 SUPPLEMENT 
art is carried to much greater perfection on the coasts of 
Aunis, whence come the excellent green oysters of Marennes. 
The men who employ themselves in this sort of business do 
not take the oysters indiscriminately. They choose individuals 
only a year old, and especially those which come from oysters 
already greened. They catch them with the hand upon the 
rocks, or they detach some large individuals fished up with 
the drag, and more deeply; they also choose the best con- 
formed individuals. The parks in which they place them are 
named Claires. These are situated on the banks, at the 
mouth of the river Seudre, and particularly on the right bank. 
Each park is enclosed by walls of three feet high at most, and 
can communicate with the river, or rather with the sea, at 
high tide twice a month only, by means of a small canal, 
with a flood-gate. All around, and within the enclosure, is a 
canal of three feet in depth, for the deposition of the mud. 
The middle is as smooth and level as the alley of a garden, 
and care is taken that no plant is left there. It is in this 
place, about a year after its arrangement, that the oysters are 
placed, very flat, and carefully insulated from each other; then 
the water is introduced, which is kept only six inches high, 
except during great heat, or great cold, when it is raised as 
much as possible. The oysters remain thus for more than 
two years, sometimes without being brought to market, and 
much care is necessary on the part of the superintendents, to 
change their places, and even to transport them into other 
parks, which accelerates their greenness. To prevent the 
deposition of mud, there must be a suitable mixture of salt 
and fresh water; crabs must not be allowed to introduce 
themselves into the park. With all these precautions, the 
green oysters which are obtained are of a very superior 
quality. As to the cause of this greenness, the people attri- 
bute it to a variety of circumstances, to the nature of the soil, 
to that of the waters, and particularly to the mixture of fresh 
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