57 



DELINEATION OF THE BEDS. 



The beds in Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds were surveyed during the season of 1878 and 

 described in my report of the operations of the party during that year. During the last season 

 the survey of the beds has been but an incidental part of the work, only such having been deline- 

 ated as time and circumstances would permit, though those lying inside the Sounds have been 

 subjected to an examination and survey similar to that of the previous season. 



BEDS IN THE NANTICOKE RIVER. 



These are small and inconsiderable, embracing a total area of 827,000 square yards. 



Most of them lie on the eastern side of the channel and extend a short distance above Bagged 

 Point, though detached groups may be found much further up the river. The oysters and shells 

 are uniformly spread over each surface. Each bed is very hard, and in most cases the probe would 

 not penetrate beyond six inches, but when it was possible to push through the surface stratum a 

 substratum was found of sand. The main part of the river bottom is of mud, and bottom of that 

 description surrounds the beds. Along both shores the mud is firmer and of greater consistency 

 than in the channel, and above Eoaring Point on those bottoms are placed large numbers of oysters 

 transplanted from the Middle Ground Bed and from other localities. 



The river seems to be a favorite planting ground, and numbers of boats and canoes were 

 working the Middle Ground Bed during the summer in order to obtain the " plants." 



The oysters are small, single and in small clusters, and not of very good quality. 



The water being shoal, from 5 to 10 feet, no dredging could be done on these beds, and conse- 

 quently the number to the square yard has not been calculated. 



BEDS IN THE LITTLE ANNEMESSEX. 



There are only a few small beds in this river, and they are very seldom worked. Their total 

 area is 464,000 square yards. The oysters are in detached groups, separated by spaces of mud and 

 sand, and are small, single and in small clusters. The depth of water varies from 6 to 12 feet. 



BEDS IN KEDG-E'S STRAIT. 



The bottom of Kedge's Strait, from the sands on one shore to those on the other, is covered 

 with scattered oysters to greater or less extent, but they are found in greater numbers in the 

 channel on the soft bottoms than elsewhere. The total area of the beds is 2,894,000 square yards, 

 and three of the beds are of considerable size. 



The first lies on the northward side of the Strait, north of Solomon's Lump Light-House, south 

 and southwest of the Western Islands. It extends in a WIW. and ESE. direction (that of the 

 channel), and is 1J miles long and from one-eighth to one-half mile broad, and is irregular in out- 

 line. Its area is 1,244,000 square yards. 



Due west of this bed, south of Oyster Creek and NlsTW. of Fog Point, is the second bed. It 

 extends north and south five-eighths of a mile, and east and west one-third of a mile. Its area is 

 646,000 square yards. 



Southwest and west from this bed, and northwest from Fog Point, in the middle of the Strait 

 and west of the shoals, is the third bed. Its area is 550,000 square yards, and its greatest length 

 NNW. and SSE. is three-fourths of a mile, with an average breadth of one-fourth of a mile. 



The depth of water on the inner bed is from 12 to 16 feet, and on the two outer ones from 14 

 to 19 feet. 



The oysters are spread in groups of different areas, separated by spaces of mud and sand, 

 generally the latter, except close to the channel- way, where there is more mud. The beds are in 

 almost all cases very hard; when the probe would penetrate, soft sand was found. The inner bed 

 is much softer than the other two, and has a larger amount of mud. The oysters were small and 

 dark, single and in small clusters of three or four, with no red sponge or grass. On the outer beds 

 the shells were larger and cleaner than on the inner, and generally the oysters in the Strait are 

 larger and with sharper bills than those inside. 

 App. 11 8 



