MUSSEL-CULTURE IN FRANCE. 291 



long, and six feet high ; that the piles number fully 

 230,000 ; and that the fascines supported by them are no 

 fewer than 125,000. The space thus covered extends 

 about five miles, from the headland of St. Clemens to the 

 mouth of the Marans river. 



The bouchotier, following the example of Walton, 

 traverses the muddy expanse of the bay at low water, in 

 a punt, and with the wonderful topographical knowledge 

 born of experience, glides in and out of the labyrinth of 

 hurdles, without making a mistake, even in the darkest 

 night. He readily finds out his own establishment, and 

 then attends to the proper condition of his crop, or re- 

 pairs and renews the wave- worn hurdles. The furrows 

 ploughed in the mud by the labouring canoe might, when 

 hardened in the summer sun, render his farming a 

 laborious task, but for the assistance of a small crusta- 

 cean, which swarms in the mussel-fields towards the 

 beginning of May, and in hunting after its prey, the 

 annelids, completely effaces the ruggednesses and in- 

 equalities of the muddy soil. This crustacean suddenly 

 vanishes, about the end of October, in a single night. 



Mussel-culture is the prevailing occupation of the in- 

 habitants of Esnandes, Chavron, and Marsilly. 



Sometimes a bouchotier owns several bouchots, and is 

 quite a man of substance ; sometimes he has but a share 

 in a bouchot, which he cultivates in common with others, 

 receiving his due proportion of the profit. The bouchots 

 are arranged in four divisions, according to their place in 

 the bay, and are distinguished accordingly as bouchots 

 du bas or d'aval, bouchots batard, bouchots milieu, and 

 bouchots d'avant. 



The bouchots du bas are those nearest the sea. They 



