OBSTRUCTIVES DEFEATED. 253 



of oyster-banks, interrupted only in those places where 

 there is an accumulation of mud. Oysters shall swarm 

 on every rock from Dieppe to Havre, from Havre to 

 Cherbourg, from Cherbourg to the depopulated banks 

 of La Rochelle ; and other famed localities shall resume 

 more than their ancient prosperity. 



Chimerical rashness ! cried the obstructives, who are 

 constantly frightened by the noise of their own non- 

 sense, which they mistake for that of lions in the way. 

 u We shall see," thought the Emperor, "whenM. Coste 

 has employed the means which I now place at his 

 disposal" 



Such is the substance of Report the first. In Report 

 the second we advance from the promise to the per- 

 formance ; from the clamours of the ignorant to the 

 felicitations of the wise, congratulating a learned col- 

 league on the happy issue of an experiment of great 

 public utility. It is worth while to relate the simple 

 but ingenious methods employed in restocking the 

 oyster-depopulated bay of Saint Brieuc. The immer- 

 sion of the oysters on ten previously designated sites 

 began in March and ended in April. Within this brief 

 period thirty millions were deposited in different parts 

 of the bay, representing the space of a thousand hec- 

 tares one hectare is equal to 195 square perches. In 

 order that the operation might be conducted with the 

 regularity of an agricultural process, and that the 

 oysters might be deposited regularly, and at such dis- 

 tances as not to interfere with each other, a steamer 

 was employed to tow a fleet of boats laden with oysters 

 in baskets, which were emptied in the spaces marked 

 by buoys. An ingenious device was fallen upon to in- 

 duce the oysters immediately to fasten themselves in 

 their new locality. Shells of oysters and other shell- 

 fish were collected from different quarters, and thrown 

 down upon the banks to be operated upon. This rub- 

 bish, the removal of which every year used to be ex- 

 pensive, was converted into points of attachment, on 



