The Gulf of Mexico 259 



tree-trunks floated out from shore, or by the wreckage of 

 vessels — for it is a dangerous region for the sailor. 



On the protected western side, the bottom is extremely 

 shallow for a mile or more, and bears quantities of " eel- 

 grass," while on the shore is a growth of thatch. One 

 experiences a feeling of insecurity on discovering the 

 shells of sand-dollars and other aquatic animals halfway 

 up the sides of the sand hills, where they have recently 

 been left by the waves of a storm, and there is at once re- 

 called that terrible night, never to be forgotten in Louisi- 

 ana, when the gay summer colonists of Dernier Isle were 

 surprised by a tropical hurricane, and swept inland for a 

 distance of many miles on furious waves from the Gulf. 



So seldom are the Chandeleur Islands visited that stilts 

 and other birds, pattering over their western mud-flats, 

 are almost without fear, and may be closely approached. 



The hundreds of square miles of bottom in Chandeleur 

 Sound lie in less than eighteen feet of water. Whether 

 any considerable part of it will ever be available for 

 oyster culture cannot now be told, but according to fish- 

 ermen, it formerly supported beds of considerable size. 

 It is possible that here, where some of the natural condi- 

 tions seem to be different from those in the Gulf, oyster 

 culture might be established. The territory is so great, 

 and is so conveniently situated with reference to mar- 

 kets, that experiments should be made to determine its 

 possibilities. 



West of the mouth of the Mississippi, the character of 

 the coast is much like that of the eastern side, for the en- 

 tire lower part of the state many miles back from the 

 water, is a swamp that rises very little above sea level. 

 Here are extensive bays — Barataria, Timbalier, and Ter- 

 rebonne — once the home waters of the pirate La Fitte, 



