35 



and apparently in good condition for attachment. Generally the mature oysters were scarce, 

 though many shells were found, and on the Shell Bed the number to the square yard was as small 

 as 0.015, though great quantities of broken shells were brought up. The Slatestone and Drum 

 Bay Point Beds appeared to be in best condition, so far as to the number of oysters. 



Buoy Spit Bed. — This bed lies on the eastern side of the channel, southwest of the Shell Bed 

 and opposite the Muddy Marsh Bed. Its area is 427,000 square yards. It extends NNW. and 

 SSE. five-eighths of a mile, and has an average breadth of one-quarter mile. The depth of 

 water over it is from 14 to 19 feet, the shoal water being found on the southern part of the bed and 

 the deep water on the northern part, and near the channel. The bed is comparatively unbroken, 

 except about the edges, where the oysters grow in groups separated by mud sloughs. Apparently 

 the bed is very old', the stratum of shells being very thick. The oysters are evenly distributed 

 over the entire area. The bottom consists of a stratum of shells, oysters, and mud, about 3 feet 

 thick, over a stratum of hard sand and shell; on the southern part of the bed the substratum is 

 mud. In the vicinity of the bed the bottom is soft sand or mud, the latter being found in the 

 channel. The oysters wei'e single, with very few young attached ; a moderate amount of red sponge 

 was found. No oysters existed in the channel. Those scattered near the bed were to the east- 

 ward. They were similar in character to those on the bed, but a larger number of young were 

 found, and about one-third of them had been injured by the drills. 



Muddy Marsh Bed. — This bed is on the western side of the channel, opposite the Buoy Spit 

 Bed, and comprises an area of l,912,00i) square yards. The main bed is long and narrow, extend- 

 ing 2£ miles along the edge of the channel, and being on an average about one-quarter of a mile 

 broad. One-half mile to the northward of the main bed are two detached "rocks," whose area 

 has been included in that just given. The depth of water over the bed, as will be seen by the 

 chart, is from 11 to 17 feet; the small "rocks" have from 13 to 14 feet over them. The shoalest 

 water found was about the central portion of the principal bed, and the ridge marks, approxi- 

 mately, the original oyster "rock." From this ridge the water deepens slightly to the westward 

 and considerably to the eastward. The bed is comparatively solid, having few mud or sand sloughs 

 in it; about the shoal ridge it is entirely unbroken. The oysters are spread unevenly over the 

 entire area, the smallest number being found on the shoal, unbroken, central part, and the largest 

 number about the extreme ends of the bed, where the water was deeper and the bottom softer. 

 On the small beds to the northward the oysters were scarce, and many clams were found. The 

 bottom on the two detached "rocks" consists of a stratum of shells and mud over a stratum of 

 mud. To the southward, and between them and the main bed, the bottom is of hard sand and 

 broken shells. Where the beds approach the channel the bottom is softer, and in the channel only 

 soft mud is found. A few mud sloughs and mud patches were discovered at some distance from 

 the channel, but generally the surrounding bottoms are hard. On the main bed a very thick and 

 hard stratum of shells, with a little sand on the surface, composes the bottom. We could drive 

 the probe down some 2 or 3 feet, but did not in any case penetrate the shell stratum, except on the 

 southern portion, where the bottom is neither so hard nor so shelly as about the center of the bed. 

 South and west of the bed the bottom is sandy, and hardens as the water shoals. A few mud 

 sloughs were found along the western edge of the bed, but it is noticeable that on the principal 

 part of the bed there was little or no mud, and that the bottom was fairly clean. The oysters on 

 the bed and from its vicinity were of medium' size and fair quality, single, and very scarce. Very 

 few young, no young growth nor drills, and no sponge, grass, or parasitic attachments of any kind 

 were found, but an immense amount of broken shell and other debris was brought up by each haul 

 of the dredge. On one occasion the dredge filled in three minutes; shells and one oyster resulted. 

 A similar haul produced a dredge full of shells and five oysters. As the dredge held about two 

 bushels, the percentage of debris is thus shown to be enormous. The hauls were made on the 

 shoal, solid portion of the bed, where, according to most experience, the oysters should have been 

 most numerous. The number of oysters to the square yard, from observations in these places, 

 was 0.40. 



The Bird Bed. — This bed lies on the eastern side of the main channel and across the channel 

 into Messongo Creek. It is irregular in shape, and is the largest bed in Pocomoke Sound, having 

 an area of 3,285,000 square yards. The southern extremity joins the Hern Island Bed, thus 



