414 THE BOUCHOTS. [CHAP. ix. 



worms (annelidae) of all species that infest the mud. The 

 corophies, which are remarkably fond of these marine worms, 

 pursue them in every direction through the mud ; and, by 

 their vigorous efforts to discover their prey, prevent the 

 furrows from forming an obstacle to the progress of the 

 boucholeur. This crustacean disappears suddenly, in a single 

 night, towards the end of October. 



The cultivation of mussels is carried on by the inhabitants 

 of the communes of Esnandes, Chavron, and Marsilly. Many 

 of the boucholeurs possess several boucJwts, while the poorest 

 of them have only a share of one bouchot, cultivating it, to- 

 gether with the other owners, and dividing the profits among 

 them, according to their shares. The bouchots are arranged in 

 four divisions, according to their position in the bay, and are 

 distinguished as bouchots du bas or d'aval, bouchots batard, 

 bouchots milieu, and bouchots d'avant. The bouchots du bas, 

 placed farthest from the shore, and only uncovered during 

 spring tides, are not formed of fences as the bouchots proper, 

 but consist simply of a row of stakes, planted about one boat 

 distant from each other, and in the most favourable position for 

 the preservation of the naissain, or young of the mussels. Upon 

 these isolated stakes the spat is allowed to collect, which is after- 

 wards to be transplanted for the purpose of peopling barren or 

 poorly-furnished palisades in those divisions which, planted 

 nearer the shore, are more frequently uncovered by the tide. 



The various operations of mussel-cultivation are designated 

 by agricultural terms such as sowing, planting, transplanting, 

 etc. Towards the end of April the seed (semence) fixed during 

 February and March to the stakes of the bouchot du bas is 

 about the size of a grain of flax, and is then called naissain. 

 By the month of July it attains the size of a bean, and is 

 called renouvelain, and is then ready for transplantation to a 

 less favourable state of existence upon the boucJwt batard, 

 where the action of the tide would probably have retarded its 



