SEWAGE CONTAMINATION OF OYSTER BEDS. QOL 
There is an open waterway from the East to the West passages, 
between Conanicut and Prudence islands. Between Prudence Island 
and the island of Rhode Island the East Passage has somewhat the 
shape of a long funnel, with the broad, open end directed up river. 
Bristol Neck reaches down into this wide opening, dividing the pas- 
sage into two channels, one to the northwest becoming continuous 
with the Providence River, and cone to the northeast leading into 
Mount Hope Bay, an irregularly shaped expanse of water, about 7 
miles long and a little over 4 miles in its greatest width, which receives 
the Kickemuit River at its northwest corner and the Taunton River 
from the northeast. As has been already stated, it joins Narragan- 
sett Bay through the narrow passage between Bristol Neck and Bristol 
Ferry, and the Sakonnet River through a still narrower cut between 
Common Fence Point and the mainland. The city of Fall River, hav- 
ing a population of nearly 105,000, is situated on the southern shore 
of the Taunton River, near its junction with Mount Hope Bay. 
Though a city of Massachusetts, Fall River is of interest in this con- 
nection because it discharges its sewage into the Taunton River, so 
that it is possible that pollution from this source might reach the 
oyster beds in more or less distant parts of the bay. 
The water of the lower or southern part of Narragansett Bay varies 
from 50 to 150 feet in depth. The shores are for the most part rocky, 
and drop abruptly from the water line to a considerable depth, form- 
ing no areas that could be of value in the cultivation of oysters. But 
a very different formation is found in the upper portion of the bay. 
The water is shallow, not over 30 feet in mid-channel, and the shores 
are low and reach out to the channel witha very long and gentle slope. 
As might be expected, here are many sand beaches and numerous 
shoals, with 6 to 18 feet of water upon them, making excellent grounds 
for clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and other shellfish, which are 
found in abundance. It is estimated that there are some 6,000 acres 
of this ground in the upper bay suitable for the cultivation of oysters. 
Being in direct communication with the sea, the waters of Narra- 
gansett Bay are kept in constant circulation by tidal currents, which 
reach inland beyond Providence to the north and Fall River to the 
eastward. There isa rise and fall, mean average tide, of 4 feet and 
6 inches at the wharves of Providence, Fall River, and Newport. In 
some portions of the bay especially strong currents are caused by the 
formation of the land in the immediate neighborhood. Such currents 
may be found in the narrow entrance to Newport Harbor, in the 
entrance to Mount Hope Bay, and in the ‘‘cut” leading from Mount 
Hope Bay into the Sakonnet River, where very large volumes of water 
have to pass through narrow openings. Lesser currents, due to a like 
cause, are found in the Providence River between Conimicut and 
Nayatt points, at the head of the Western Passage of the bay between 
