4 6 



LIVING CREATURES. 



plete animals. So that by dividing these mischievous 

 creatures they were only multiplying them. 



The business of taking oysters for human use com- 

 mences in September, when the spawning is over and 

 the animals are plump. A sloop is brought to anchor 

 over the bed, and small boats containing men are sent 

 out in various directions. First, the oysters are taken 

 with double rakes or tongs, and are thrown into the 



little boats which convey 

 them to the sloop. When 

 the rakes and tongs have" 

 done all they can, a dredge 

 is thrown out from the sloop 

 and dragged over the bot- 

 tom until the bed is thor- 

 oughly cleaned. 



The sloop, having been 

 loaded with from two hun- 

 dred to eight hundred bush- 

 els of oysters, is run into the 

 mouth of some river or^ creek, where the water is 

 partly fresh, to "give the oysters a drink," as the fish- 

 ermen say. Here the load is thrown overboard in 

 shallow water, when the bivalves open, the water runs 

 in, and they get their "drink." In this way, it is 

 claimed, they cleanse themselves from the rubbish of 

 the sea, get rid of their salt, become white, and ap- 

 pear suddenly to fatten. The fattening, however, is 

 only a temporary puffing up with water. 



When finally raised from their temporary resting 

 place, they are disposed of in different ways. Many 

 families near at hand purchase each from ten to twenty 



Star -fish. 



