A WONDERFUL MUSSEL FARM. 251 



be seen a wonderful mussel " farm," which has been a 

 source of considerable profit for hundreds of years. The 

 mussels are grown on frames of basket-work carefully made, 

 and are larger and of finer flavor than the natural fish. In 

 the year 1035, an Irish bark loaded with sheep was thrown 

 in a heavy storm on the rocks near Esnande, on the coasts 

 of Saintonge, and the only person on board who was saved 

 was the captain, named Walton, who amply repaid the ser- 

 vices which had been rendered him, for having saved some 

 of the sheep from the wreck, he crossed them with the ani- 

 mals of the country, and this produced a fine race, which is 

 still known under the name of the "marsh sheep." He next 

 •devised a kind of net, which was stretched a little above 

 the level of the open sea, where it caught large flocks of 

 .shore-birds which skim the surface of the water at twilight 

 or after dark. In order to render these nets thoroughly 

 <efiective, it was necessary to go to the very centre of the 

 immense bed of mud where these birds seek their nourish- 

 ment. Walton discovered on examining the poles which 

 supported his nets that they were covered with mussel- 

 spawn. He then increased the number of the poles, and, 

 after various attempts, constructed his first artificial mussel- 

 bed. At the level of the lowest tides, he drove into the 

 mud stakes that were strong enough to resist the force of 

 the waves, and placed them in two rows about a yard dis- 

 tant from one another. This double line of poles formed an 

 angle whose base was directed toward the shore and whose 

 apex pointed to the open sea. This palisade was roughly 

 fenced in with long branches, and a narrow opening having 

 been left at the extremity of the angle, wicker-work cases 

 were arranged in such a manner as to stop any fishes that 

 were being carried back by the retreating tide. Walton 

 had thus combined in one a sort of fish preserve, with a bed 

 for the breeding of mussels. The plan soon became very 

 popular, and the beds were extended in every direction. 



