25 



the interior. The oysters are distributed over the entire bed, but not evenly, the largest number 

 being found in the vicinity of the dark liue marked on tbe chart. The bottom is hard, of shells and 

 sand; the oysters on the surface had a small amount of mud with them, the thickness of which 

 was not uniform, but did not exceed a few inches. As the channel and northern boundary are 

 approached the bottom becomes softer and more mud is found ; on the eastern and southern portions 

 of the bed the sand increased; north of the bed the bottom is mud, to the eastward and southward, 

 hard sand, and to the westward, soft mud. On the bed itself the substratum of the bottom is prob- 

 ably hard sand, but owing to the great depth of water it was impossible definitely to ascertain the 

 character ofi- the substratum, except in a few isolated cases. The oysters found were single, of 

 moderate size, and good quality ; occasionally small clusters of two or three were discovered. 

 Many young were found, but they were not evenly distributed, being in larger numbers about the 

 central portion of the bed and decreasing as the edges were approached. On the southern and 

 smaller portion the young were comparatively scarce. A moderate number of young had evidently 

 been destroyed by the dredges, and large numbers were injured by drills; many drills were found 

 attached to the oysters, and where the bottom was clean the drills were generally in direct pro- 

 portion to the young, but where the red or gray sponge or grass existed there was a marked 

 diminution of the number of young and a moderate diminution of the number of astyris. The sponge 

 and grass were found in considerable quantities about the western and southwestern edges of the 

 smaller portion, and to a less extent on the main bed. As the bottom became soft or muddy, both 

 young oysters and astyris disappeared. Though the bed is so large and so favorably situated for 

 production the oysters are not very plentiful, the number to the square yard, the mean of thirty-six 

 observations made at different points, being but 0.16. The scattered oysters to the eastward are 

 much larger and finer than those on the beds. They are singly on the sands, the distances sepa- 

 rating them being xnoportional to the distance of the oysters from the main bed. To the south- 

 ward and eastward the oysters are not so fine, especially those in the latter locality, where they 

 grow on the edge of the mud, and have discolored shells and an unhealthy appearance. The num- 

 ber to the square yard, on the area occupied by scattered oysters, was 0.04. 



The Woman's Marsh Bed. — This bed lies on the western side of the Sound, opposite the Great 

 Bock, and is next to it in size, comprising an area of 6,975,000 square yards. It is irregular in 

 shape, extends north and south along the edge of the channel for 4f miles, and is a little less than 

 one-half mile broad. All parts of the bed are broken in many places, and this is especially the 

 case about the middle portion. Large spaces of sand and smaller ones of mud are frequently met, 

 and the oysters grow in groups of considerable size, separated by these spaces, except about the 

 locality of the dark line drawn on the chart, where the bed is nearly unbroken. 



The depth of water is from 13 to 22 feet; over the southern and middle parts of the bed the 

 usual depth was about 19 feet, and on the northern portion about 14 feet was found. Generally 

 speaking, the deeper water is near the channel, but on the extreme eastern edge of the bed the 

 water suddenly shoals, usually to 16 or 17 feet, and sometimes to as little as 2 fathoms. Immediately 

 to the westward the water deepens rapidly. The ridge is very narrow and on or near it the 

 largest number of oysters were found; hence the dark line on the chart shows, approximately, its 

 position. The shoal water is found on the western part of the bed, and the deep water over the 

 soft bottoms and mud sloughs. 



The oysters are spread over the entire area, with the largest number along the eastern edge 

 of the bed, where the bottom is hard, though they are scattered over and about the mud and sand 

 spaces. The bottom was hard, of shells and sand, except where the mud sloughs occurred, when 

 the covering of shells was very light, and the mud underneath of considerable thickness. A little 

 mud was found on the solid parts of the bed, the amount depending upon the distance from the 

 channel or interior mud spaces. Very few observations were made of the substratum, but it is 

 probably of sand, the bottom to the westward being of that description. East of the bed the 

 bottom was soft mud. The oysters were large and single, occasionally of small clusters and of 

 very good quality. Many young and many drills were attached to them and the old shells. The 

 young were very unevenly distributed, the largest number being found about the locality indicated 

 by the dark line on the chart and on the hard bottoms. The drills were similarly distributed, being 

 usually in proportion to the young, though exceptions to this rule were more frequent than on the 

 App. 11 4 



