70 THE geoege's iiiVErv oyster eisheeies. 



excellent in quality and great in quantity. At Overreacli 

 the oysters grow in 16 feet depth of water, and in small 

 quantities. 



The next place worthy of note is the " Moon," which has 

 a depth of 16 feet heloAv low-water mark. The hest oysters 

 in G-eorge's lliver can he procured from this hed, hut only 

 by diving. 



' Half a mile further on is " Soily Bottom," a hed 76 feet 

 deep helow low-water mark. The oysters here do not grow 

 plentifully; the strong ehh tide has quite a deteriorating 

 effect. 



The last place where oysters may he collected in George's 

 Eiver is at the mouth of Salt Pan Creek, in a depth from 10 

 to 12 feet. The oysters are of good quality, hut not plentiful. 



Woronora is a hrancli off George's River ; in a depth of 15 

 feet, the deep-water rock oysters are found. This is the 

 only spot up this hranch Avliere mud oysters can he procured. 



Half a mile beyond this hed some deep-water rock oysters 

 are found, in about 4 feet of water. 



At Clarke's Point, further on, in a depth of 8 feet, they 

 grow in abundance. 



There are three sorts of oysters in George's River, namely, 

 mud, deep-water rock, and foreshore oysters. The difference 

 is that mud oysters are found lying on flat rocks and in the 

 crevices ; some of them may ])e found attached to the rocks. 

 It is a remarkable fact that these oysters will not keep longer 

 than fifteen hours out of water, and then must be kept in a 

 cool place. No spawn from these oysters lias ever been 

 artificially laid in George's P^iver — they are all of natural 

 growth. The deep-rock oysters are twice the size of the 

 foreshore oysters. Some idea of their dimensions may be 

 formed when it is stated that some of them would not pass 

 throu2:h a rins; 3 inches in diameter — tliev are fit for food 

 after being kept for about fifteen days. The foreshore oysters 

 are something similar to the deep-water rock kind, but are 

 much smaller and flatter. 



There have been no oysters in the natural dredging beds 

 for the last five or six years, except those wliicli were 

 artificially laid, and they came originally from Port Hacking, 

 Wienue, and Cuggara mangroves. Of these artificially- 

 laid oysters, 300 bags were laid in O'Connel's bed, and 

 yielded 400 bags of remarkably fine oysters twelve months 

 afterwards. 



