154 Canadian Record of Science. 



"Natives," as they are termed in England, are a 

 •delicacy confined to the table of the rich, here they are 

 within the reach of all. 



Like so many of the magnificent natural resources of 

 this country, the Oyster Fishery is being most waste- 

 fully carried out, and we may before long regret in vain 

 the time when Malpeque oysters sold for 25 cents a 

 dozen. 



Richmond Bay or Malpeque Bay, as it is sometimes 

 called, is a somewhat quadrangular inlet of the Gulf of 

 " St. Lawrence on the North Coast of Prince Edward 

 Island. It is roughly about ten or twelve miles long 

 by about nine in width, and is throughout compara- 

 tively shallow, never more than about 7 or 8 fathoms 

 in depth, for the most part 2 — 4 fathoms. The bay is 

 studded with islands, of which Curtain Island, which 

 has given its name to the best variety of the Malpeque 

 Oyster, is one. To the north, where it opens into the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, the entrance is obstructed by 

 islands, and navigable channels are very few in number, 

 for great sand flats and shoals connect up the islands 

 with one another. 



The whole North Coast of Prince Edward Island is 

 fringed by a series of parallel sand-bars, and it is owing 

 to this circumstance that the oyster is able to flourish 

 there. All who know the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 are aware that the water even in summer is very cold ; 

 so cold indeed that though the adult Oyster could live 

 in it, it could not reproduce itself, for the larvae would 

 perish. But as the Gulf water flows over the sand-bars 

 and shoals alluded to, it becomes heated up by the sum- 

 mer sun, and reaches a temperature which permits, in 

 favourable years at least, of successful spawning. 

 Oysters are accordingly confined to such places on the 

 coast of Canada, as present conditions similar to those 

 mentioned above. They exist in the Baie de Chaleur, 

 in some of the shallower inlets on the New Brunswick 

 Coast, at a few points on both shores of Prince Edward 

 Island, and on the Northern Coast of Nova Scotia. In 

 every case, however, we have to do with isolated 

 colonies inhabiting warm spots surrounded by a great 



