WALTON AND " BOUCHOTS." 265 



Accident led Walton to his happy discovery. Com- 

 pelled to live by his wits, he set about exploring the 

 miserable locality on which he had been cast, in order, 

 if possible, to discover the means of subsistence. This 

 he found in the netting of sea-birds in the bay of 

 Aiguillon. He was not long in observing that the 

 mussels attached to the stakes supporting his nets were 

 larger and better-flavoured than those living in their 

 natural state in the mud. Profiting by the hint, he 

 planted more stakes, which in turn were covered with 

 mussels. Having thus had proof that it was possible 

 to practise mussel-rearing so as to assume the propor- 

 tions of an extensive cultivation, he set about the con- 

 struction of permanent erections for the reception of 

 the young of the mussel. These consisted of two an- 

 gular lines of stakes, with the apex towards the sea, 

 and distant from each so as to form nearly an angle of 

 45. Along each of these lines, at the distance of two 

 or three feet from each other, he fixed strong stakes of 

 from ten to twelve feet high, which, to the depth of 

 six feet, were driven into the sand, the intervening 

 spaces being interlaced with hurdles and branches 

 capable of resisting the action of the waves. At the 

 outer extremity of the angles he left a space of three 

 or four feet, for the reception of an apparatus intended 

 to capture the fish passing through these double lines, 

 with the flow of the tide thus ingeniously combining 

 fishing with mussel-rearing. These double lines were 

 so arranged that the juxtaposition of two sets of them 

 formed the letter W ; and M. Coste fancies that, by 

 thus inscribing on the sand the initial letter of his 

 name, Walton was preferring his claim to that public 

 gratitude which he doubtless expected. Certain it is 

 that this is still the form of the five hundred bouchots 

 which now cover half the bay of Aiguillon. 



He must have been an ingenious man, as is shown 

 by his admirable device for enabling him to explore the 

 bay at low water, and construct his apparatus. Sailing 



