Tin-: COAST FISHERIES OF TEXAS. 387 



The (luality of Texas oysters compares favorably witli that of those 

 found on tlie Athmtic coasf. Tliey are quite similar to the " Western 

 Shores" of the Chesapeake Bay, or those obtained from the "Kettle 

 Bottoms" in the Potomac Eiver. In the spring, on account of the large 

 (piantities of fresh water that" fill the bays, the oysters are frequently 

 rather fresh, but they are nearly always fat. Except from November to 

 Marcli, the oysters in Texas spawn to a limited extent at all periods in 

 the year, but more particularly during the first half of May. 



These oysters are quite free from a number of enemies and adverse 

 agencies common on the middle Atlantic coast. Starfish are not known 

 in Texas, drills are not abundant, and an excellent set of oysters is 

 secured nearly every year. But the Texas oyster industry has its own 

 troul)les, the greatest l)eing the destruction caused by heavy freshets 

 in the spring. All the rivers and estuaries of Texas, except the Rio 

 Grande and Brazos, empty their waters into the bays along the coast, 

 and every sirring ujore or less damage is done to the oysters by the fresh 

 water with which some of the bays are filled for several days if the 

 wind be favorable for such a condition. Happily, however, it rarely 

 occurs that the oysters on all the beds in any one bay are destroyed in 

 this manner. 



Another trouble which exists here to a considerable extent is the 

 diimuge done by the drumfish. These are very numerous in all the 

 bays along this coast, and they do much injury, especially where oys- 

 ters have been taken from the reefs and bedded to await a more favor- 

 able market. Occasionally an oysterman bnilds a picket fence around 

 his bedded oysters to prevent damage from this source, but this prac- 

 tice is not general. 



OYSTER, BEDS, LOCATION, AREA, ETC. 



In all the bays and at the months of the rivers along the coast where 

 the water is of suitable density more or less area of oyster reefs may 

 be found. On account of the earlier settlement and the larger popula- 

 tion in that vicinity, the reefs in Galveston Bay have been longer known 

 and more extensively fished on than those of any other section. Mata- 

 gorda Bay undoubtedly has at present the finest suj^ply of oysters on 

 the Texas coast, although the area of natural beds in that bay known 

 to the fishermen is not so great as in Galveston Bay ; but owing to 

 poor shipping facilities, the Matagorda grounds are not so extensively 

 fished on as those in other bays. Corpus Christi has recently acquired 

 considerable prominence, and a greater development of the oyster re- 

 sources of tliat locality is probable. The inland water route connecting 

 the chain of bays from Matagorda to Corpus (Uiristi will naturally unite 

 the 03'sterbusinessof the towns on the shores, enabling each market at 

 all times to obtain a supply from any one of these bays. 



The bottoms of the Texas bays may be classified generally as shift- 

 ing sand, muddy, grassy, and hard. The shifting sand ofiers no 



