CHAP. IX.] 



MUSSEL-STAKES. 



411 



mussel-culture. An exile from Erin, Walton was ingenious 

 enough to create a " hurdle," which, intercepting the spat of 

 the mussels, served as a place for them to grow. In a sense, the 

 origin of this mussel-farm was accidental. The bay where 

 this industry is now flourishing was, at the time of the ship- 

 wreck, and is at present, a vast expanse of mud, frequented by 

 sea-fowl, and it was while devising a kind of net or trap 

 for the capture 

 of these that he 

 obtained the germ 

 of his future idea 

 of mussel-culture. 

 The net or bag- 

 trap which he em- 

 ployed in catching 

 the night birds 

 which floated on 

 the water was 

 fixed in the mud 

 by means of toler- MUSSEL -STAKES. 



ably strong supports, and he soon found out that the parts 

 of his net which were sunk in the water had intercepted 

 large quantities of mussel-spat, which in time grew into 

 the finest possible mussels, larger in size and finer in 

 quality than those grown upon the neighbouring mud. 

 From less to more this simple discovery progressed into a 

 regular industry, which at present forms almost the sole oc- 

 cupation of the inhabitants of the neighbouring shores. The 

 system pursued is that invented by Walton about the middle 

 of the twelfth century, and has been handed down from 

 generation to generation in all its original simplicity and 

 ingenuity. The apparatus for the growth of the mussel, with 

 which the bay is now almost covered, is called a bouchot, and 

 is of very simple construction. A number of strong piles or 



