OYSTER AND MUSSEL REPORT. 67 
Bay oF AIGUILLON. 
This large shallow bay with flat muddy shores miles of 
which are exposed at low tide has become celebrated 
through the peculiar method of mussel cultivation there 
carried on. The bouchot system owes its origin to the 
wreck in 1035 of an Irish barque loaded with sheep upon 
the rocks near the village of Esnandes.* The only man 
rescued was the captain, named Walton, who having saved 
some of the sheep from the wreck crossed them with the 
animals of the country and produced a fine race, the marsh 
sheep, which is still held in high estimation. Walton also 
devised a kind of net the ‘‘allouret’’ which he stretched 
on poles above the level of the sea to catch the flocks of 
birds which fly across the surface of the bay after dark. 
In order to carry the net far out over the mud he had to 
drive in many poles, and he soon found that these 
became covered with mussel spat, and that the shellfish 
grown in this way in the open water above the mud were 
of superior quality. This led to the construction of the 
first artificial mussel plantation or set of bouchots. 
Walton also invented the “‘ pousse pied” or ‘‘ acon”’ the 
characteristic boat of the boucholeurs still in constant use 
for traversing the soft mud—l had a trip in one last July. 
The ‘‘acon”’ is composed of a plank forming the bottom 
and bent up in front to make a flat prow (PI. III, fig. 1.) 
The sides and stern are each formed of one piece of wood, 
sometimes the sides are of two planks each. The size is 
9 or 10 ft. in length, from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. wide and about 
1 ft. 6 in. deep. There is a shelf at the stern, a narrow 
thwart close to the bow, and a small wooden stool in the 
middle of the floor—these with a wooden paddle and a 
short pole complete the equipment. The boatman in using 
* For this historical fact Iam indebted to Quatrefages’ ‘‘ Souvenirs d’un 
Naturaliste,”’ Paris, 1854. 
