394 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



here a brief summary of M. Coste's voyage of exploration on the 

 French httoral. 



The parks at Marennes, in which the oysters are placed in order 

 to acquire the green colour which characterises them, are basins 

 stretching along both banks of the Seudre for many leagues. They 

 are locally known as claires, and differ from the oyster-parks of other 

 countries in this particular — that, while the ordinary parks are so 

 arranged as to be submerged at every return of the tide, the basins ot 

 Marennes are so arranged that they can only be submerged at spring 

 tides ; that is, at the new and full moon, when the waters rise beyond 

 the ordinary level. 



The basins or claires occupy from 250 to 300 square yards of 

 superficies ; two sluices permit of the entrance and withdrawal of water 

 at will, so as to maintain it at the level most convenient to the 

 industrial wants of the place, or to empty it altogether when it is 

 necessary to cleanse the basin, pave the bottom, and furnish it with 

 a fresh supply of oysters. 



When these necessary works are completed, advantage is taken of 

 the first spring tide to fill the basin. When the tide begins to ebb, 

 the sluices are closed, so as to retain sufficient water in the basins ; 

 and while thus shut up, salt held in solution is deposited. 



When the basin has been filled with sea-water for the necessary 

 time, and the bottom is sufficiently impregnated with salt, it is 

 emptied and left to dry ; and now, the soil being prepared, it only 

 remains to furnish it with oysters of a mellow and ripe age, in order 

 to give them their green hue. Towards the month of September, at 

 low water, the whole sea-side population of Marennes go to gather 

 oysters on the pavement left uncovered by the ebbing tide, or by 

 using a dredger in the deeper parts of the claires where the water still 

 remains. A temporary magazine for the reception of the oysters thus 

 gathered is erected on the banks, which the water revisits twice a day. 

 The young are reserved for cultivation on the parks or claires ; the 

 fullest are sold for consumption in the neighbourhood ; but the 

 quantity of oysters raised at Marennes is insufficient to supply the 

 demand. About a third of the provision intended for the claires 

 comes from the coast of Brittany, of Normandy, and La Vendee. 

 " These foreign oysters," says M. Coste, " never attain the fine flavour 

 of those bred in the locality. It is necessary to keep them for a long 

 time in the claires before they are sufficiently ameliorated, and, even 

 when they become green, they retain traces of their primitive nature, 

 remaining hard, in spite of the new qualities imparted to them by 

 cultivation ; a certain bitterness remains, which is easily distinguished 



II 



