17 



QQ. We next proceeded to Dumbri creek where we visited a long tributary 

 ebb-dry creek indicated by our guide as containing a good oyster-bed. As the 



F/G. 4. 

 Mud flat. 



Mud fist. 



F/'j. i: Plan of Dumbri side- creek fo show location of 

 ' patches $) mentioned in the text. 



creek dries out at low-tide we left the boat at the mouth and tramped along the 

 creek bank to where the oysters were a weary undertaking owing to the soft- 

 ness of the mud and the intense heat experienced on these open flats during 

 the middle of the day. Some 250 yards up the creek we came on the oyster 

 patches, five in number stretched at intervals of 15 to 20 yards apart a little to 

 one side of the centre where a small runnel still flowed. All the patches were 

 small, varying from 6 to 12 square yards in area. (Figa. 4t and 5.) 



Fig. 5 



Mud ff*t 8wai$h 



ih tide 



Centra/ 



Oyster 

 joa-t-ch. 



g. 5. Sect/0 nth rough a Dumbri side -creek showing 

 /ocstion of 3n oyster natch. Low tide. 



Being of considerable width the muddy banks slope gently to the middle. 

 Around the oyster patches the mud is particularly soft and I had considerable 

 difficulty in reaching one, sinking over the knees a yard from its edge. When 

 returning encumbered with an armful of huge shells the passage was worse and 

 so deeply did I sink into the mud that I had to be ignominiously hauled out. 



67. The dead oyster shells forming the basis of the patches here were the 

 largest I have ever seen. Many ranged from 9 to 11 inches in length and one 

 fragment representing a hinge region measured 7tj inches long when complete 

 this individual could not have been less than 16 or 17 inches in length. As in 

 the case of the dead oysters in the Mall creek these were markedly slipper 

 shaped. Scarcely a single living oyster other than brood was found, a number 

 of oyster-men having thoroughly harvested the crop that had become adult 

 during the two years of closure just ended. Their haul we found on the return 

 journey laid out on the bank of the main channel ready for shipment when their 

 large boat should come up the creek. 



68. The brood oysters seen adhering to shell cultch on the ravaged beds 

 were few in number ; in size they varied from \ to 1 inch diameter. Accom- 

 panying them were a fair number of the usual oyster bed habitues. Anomia of 



B 6955 





