[9] TRANSFORMATION OF SALT MARSHES INTO FISH-PoNDS. 525 
ported during the hot season, often undergo a change; they lose much 
of their freshness, and cannot be sold to advantage. The fisheries of 
the basin of Arcachon are, moreover, very abundant during summer, 
and the sale of fresh vegetables interferes considerably with the sale of 
pond-fish. These are the reasons which have determined the owners or 
farmers of fish-ponds not to commence fishing until the weather gets 
colder. The fisheries generally extend till Easter, because the Holy 
Week is very favorable for the sale of fish. 
Fishing with the fish-gig.—This method is exclusively employed in 
catching the various kinds of eels, from February till Easter. The rea- 
sons for this are as follows: 
In order to use the fish-gig advantageously, the water in the ponds — 
must be very low, so that the eels may be gathered in larger or smaller 
groups. The fish-gig should only be used when frosts need no longer 
be feared, for, on account of its troubling the water, the fish-gig would, 
in case of a severe frost, increase the danger to the mullet. The ooze 
is carefully gone over in all directions with the fish-gig, and its five 
prongs are inserted in innumerable places. The eels which are caught 
in this manner are, therefore, partly lacerated. 
Fishing with the fish-gig has this advantage, that in this way even 
the bottom of the pond is made to yield a profit; but, on the other hand, 
it involves considerable expense in the way of wages to the fishermen; 
and, after all, it only yields dead or torn eels, which cannot in that con- 
dition be sold to advantage, and which cannot be kept alive. 
Production of fish-ponds.--In its present condition pond-culture only 
occupies itself with eels and mullet, called “mules” in this part of the 
country. The mullet constitute the more important object of these 
fisheries. 
Pond-mullet belong mainly to three different kinds: 
(1.) The “‘negrott,” or black mullet. 
(2.) The “ saoultott,” or sand-jumper (the golden mullet—Mugil aura- 
tus). 
(3.) The ‘blancheou,” or white mullet (the “ramado” or Mugil capito). 
Of these three kinds the black mullet, or the “mullet with thick lips,” 
is found more frequently than the two other kinds. It enters the sluices 
in very large numbers, and seems to flourish better in the ponds than 
the other kinds. Its size is, generally, one-third greater than that of 
the other two kinds, more especially than the white mullet (Mugil capito). 
The average annual yield from the mullet and eel fisheries may be 
estimated at 300 kilograms per hectare. 
The establishment of fish-ponds, therefore, offers positive advantages, 
not only by increasing the quantity of food for the people, but also by 
being more profitable than the cultivation of the soil; for in these parts 
the average annual yield of a hectare of ground, set out in wheat or 
beans, is 100 franes; of meadow-lands which are not irrigated, 120 
francs; of meadow-lands irrigated by fresh water, 250 francs; and of 
