[11] OYSTER-CULTURE UPON SHORES OF BRITISH CHANNEL. 683 



duction, it vrould be extremely diflScult to fix collecting apparatus along 

 the shore. 



Eegneville. — Although but a short distance from Granville, the 

 station of Kegn6ville is very favorable to the cultivation of the oyster. 



Near the apex of the angle formed by the Norman coast and the 

 coast of Brittany opens an immense harbor, which, commencing at 

 Point Agou, extends along the shore ui^on which Eegneville is built. 

 The swell of the ocean fills it at each tide. 



The Sienne, a small stream of fresh water, having its sources in La 

 Baleine, empties into this bay and mingles its waters with those of the 

 sea, tempering their saltness and giving them those precious character- 

 istics so sought for by cultivators, and which I have already referred to 

 in speaking of Courseulles. 



Just below the mouth of the Sienne is situated the oyster-cultural 

 establishment founded by Madame Sarah Felix, of which I shall give a 

 brief description. I will barely refer to the ancient pares now disused, 

 since the fishermen carry elsewhere the fruits of their fishing, and the 

 bedding grounds (depots), more ancient still, which were called "The 

 pares of the river Passevin", and which are now abandoned. These 

 bedding grounds were arranged in the same manner as those at Cour. 

 seulles, and served only to furnish an asylum for a longer or shorter time 

 to the oysters collected by the fishermen of the country, which passed 

 into the possession of the proprietors of those planting grounds. They 

 were fed through a subterranean canal communicating with the sea, and 

 admitting the water only during the spring tides. 



Before Madame Sarah Felix established herself there, no serious 

 attempt at cultivation had been undertaken at Eegneville. 



The pares of Madame Sarah Felix are excavated in a calcareous 

 formation, and occupy an area of 5 hectares. A secure dike, 6 meters in 

 height, constructed of the earth removed from the basins, intermingled 

 with large stones, protects them from the assaults and the violence of 

 the sea. The side facing the water is revetted with large bowlders, 

 against which the waves spend themselves, and which can be neither 

 undermined nor displaced. 



The water is introduced by means of an open canal, which starts from 

 the level of low water. Upon reaching the establishment, the water is 

 received and distributed through a large gate, moved by geared wheels. 

 The bottom of the opening is several feet below the level of high water 

 during the neap tides. It was indispensable to adopt this arrangement 

 in order that only perfectly pure waters might be permitted to enter 

 the reservoirs after the tide had attained its greatest height. There is 

 around the whole extent of this harbor a vast amount of calcareous sand, 

 which is lifted by the rising tide and swept along by the currents. 



A principal supply canal traverses the establishment and distributes 

 the fresh waters into 24 basins. The depth of these basins is about 3J 

 meters, and the depth of water in them about 2J meters. Each division 



