200 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



reference to the accompanying outline map of the inland waters of 

 Rhode Island, and gives the locations of its principal seaport cities and 

 towns. The bay has an irregular coast line, and reaches inland in a 

 general northerly direction for a distance of 25 miles. Its greatest 

 width is about 7 miles. Its western boundary is formed by the main- 

 land of the state; its eastern shores b}^ the mainland and the island 

 of Rhode Island, which separates the bay from the Sakonnet River. 

 The upper part of the bay is considerably narrower than the lower, or 

 southern portion, and for a distance of about 10 miles is known as the 

 Providence River. At the head of this river is thecitj^ of Providence, 

 which, with the surrounding towns, has a population of some 200,000. 

 The Providence River at this point is joined by the Seekonk, a brack- 

 ish stream which rises in Massachusetts. From 3 to -i miles above its 

 union with the Providence River the Seekonk flows through the city 

 of Pawtucket, a city of nearly 40,000 inhabitants. For a distance of 

 6 or 7 miles below Providence the Providence River barel}' exceeds a 

 mile in width, and in some places is much less than a mile wide. 

 After passing Conimicut Point, a narrow tongue of land which juts 

 abruptly out from the western shore, the river rapidly broadens to 

 nearly three times its former width. Near this point the larger river 

 receives the Warren River, a little stream less than half a mile wide, 

 interesting in the present connection in that it is used for oyster cul- 

 ture. The towns of Warren, having a population of 5,100, and Bar- 

 rington, 1,135, are situated on the banks of this stream, about 2 miles 

 from its union with the Providence River. 



Conanicut and Prudence islands, lying near the mid line of the bay 

 proper, divide it into two strips of water called the East and West 

 passages, respectivel}' . The two entrances into the bay from the ocean 

 are separated from one another by Beaver Tail, the southern portion 

 of Conanicut Island, which juts out into the mouth of the bay between 

 the mainland and the southwestern extremity of the island of Rhode 

 Island. Of these two approaches to the bay, the one leads directly 

 into the Western Passage, the other into Newport Harbor and thence 

 into the Eastern Passage. Proceeding northward, the West Passage 

 broadens very gradually till it reaches Quonset Point. Under the lea 

 of this land lies Wickford Harbor and the town of Wickford. There 

 are small oyster beds planted in the sheltered water of Wickford Har- 

 bor. Six miles above Quonset Point the Western Passage breaks up 

 into two channels, one leading to the northwest into Greenwich Buy, 

 the other in a northeasterly direction into the Providence River. 



The city of Newport is situated on the island of Rhode Island, near 

 the entrance to the East Passage to Narragansett Bay. This cit}^, of 

 22,034 inhabitants, is one of the two large ports in Rhode Island 

 waters, but is not of moment in the present connection, since it is 

 situated at a considerable distance from the oyster beds of the bay. 



