844 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [20] 
country, and to give a vivid description of the habits of the people who 
follow it, I could not do better than quote from a manuscript work, by 
M. Robert, a merchant of Marennes, the details which he contided to 
me with liberty to publish them: 
“A stranger, going from Tremblade to Royan, is struck with surprise 
at the number of buildings which abound along the whole route as in 
the vicinity of large cities. New houses, tastefully built and luxuriously 
furnished, rise from the center of rich vineyards; and the progress in 
building is such that ere long ''remblade and Etante will be nothing 
more than extremities of a street several kilometers in length. These 
fine houses, it may be added, are of little use to their owners, who, ill at 
ease in their splendid apartments, generally spend their time in the 
least habitable portions, thus condemning themselves to be less com- 
fortably lodged than when they had dwellings suitable to their means. 
“At first thought it would seem that the culture of oysters requires 
but little care; but quite the contrary is true. The men so employed 
work very hard at certain times. They are, however, not prevented 
from engaging in other industries, from being salt-makers and farmers; 
their work is disagreeable, as it is done in the water and mud, when 
necessary to repair and cleanse the claires. The same difficulty occurs 
in depositing and collecting the oysters. 
“The women take no part in this kind of work, except to assort 
the oysters before putting them in the ponds. Their principal work con- 
sists in selling the shell-fish. Towards the end of August, or early in 
September, as the heat decreases, great numbers of women and young 
girls can be seen going in all directions to live until April in the villages 
which they have selected. Many women sell for their husbands; others 
buy from the oyster-growers and sell again on their own account. 
There are also many who are hired, and who receive a certain sum for 
the season. When they go to their destination, they carry the oysters 
in wicker baskets carefully closed. Each one has some particular selling 
place. Some pass the day in the open air, at the doors of restaurants 
and hotels; others, more favored, have a little stall or corridor to shelter 
them. They remain there from morning until near night, and it is 
astonishing to see them enjoy such good health, exposed, as they are, to 
the cold and to the inclemency of winter. This kind of life gives the 
young girls much assurance; the stay in the city develops, also, a taste 
for dress and a certain skill in making it up. Tremblade also, on Sun- 
day, offers quite pleasing scenes. The workers of the week-day, dressed 
in their holiday clothes, are not recognizable, and these oyster women, 
with willowy forms, coquettish air, and easy bearing, agreeably enliven 
the scene. 
‘“The men are vigorous, active, and enterprising, and as the claires 
are their fortunes, they are reproached, with reason, with not respect- 
ing sufficiently, in forming them, the interests of the public and of 
the bordering proprietors. Thus cultivators are often seen contract- 
