﻿181 



appearance of the water, the condition of the natural growth, sediment or deposit, or washing 

 away of any parts of the shore lines, etc. 



Whenever the depth of water exceeded twenty-five feet, recourse was had to the hand-lead, 

 and occasionally, as a means of checking, the lead and pole were kept going simultaneously. 



Having previously learned from the local oystermen and fishermen the general locality of 

 those natural oyster beds which have been resorted to by the public, and with the methods of 

 the survey modified, as above described, the examinations were continued southward to the 

 Florida line. 



The weather was remarkably favorable for field observations until February, when it 

 became foggy and rainy. I shall have occasion to refer again to the effects of the unusually 

 dry season on the conclusions to be deduced from the observed specimens of the specific gravity 

 of the water. It was anticipated that the rainy season would set in sufficiently early to admit 

 of a rapid series of density observations to be taken, for comparison, over the entire ground, 

 as the vessel returned to Savannah, but such, unfortunately, was not the case. 



The field work closed February 28, 1890. 



The total expenditure to accomplish this work on account of the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey was §368.21. 



LIMITS OF THE AREA EXAMINED. 



The area which it was desired to examine includes all the waters under the jurisdiction 

 of the State of Georgia in which oysters are found growing naturally, and in which it might 

 be considered practicable to make them grow by planting or other artificial means. This area 

 is composed of estuaries, sounds, and mouths of rivers along the coast of the State. Included 

 between the latitude of 32 03' north and 30 43' north, and having a general direction of 

 S. S. W., it is bounded on the north by the Savannah River, and on the south by the middle 

 line of the St. Mary's, and includes all the islands lying within the former. For the most part 

 it consists of a network of tortuous rivers, creeks, and lagoons, connecting with each other 

 and surrounding low and iminhabitable marsh lands. These marsh lands have a nearly 

 horizontal surface whose height is about the plane of mean low water. On the illustrations 

 (7 in number) which accompany this report, are graphically shown the location, limits, and 

 area of the natural oyster beds, and the specific gravity of the water reduced to a temperature 

 of 6o° Fahrenheit, that of distilled water being represented by 1.0000. The specific gravities 

 are indicated in red figures, and when more than one specimen of water was taken at the same 

 point, the mean of all the observations has been plotted, and the number of the specimens is 

 indicated in bhie figures in parentheses, following the red figures. In addition to the speci- 

 mens taken by the sounding-boats while in the field, specimens were also taken every four 

 hours, day and night, from the ship's anchorage. There are also indicated in black, lines 1,000 

 feet from shore, inside of which, under the present State law, one person can lease five acres 

 only, while beyond he may lease five hundred acres. These projections are nothing more 

 than Coast Survey Charts Nos. 440, 441, 443, 444, 446, 447, and 448, but they were made from 

 dry proof plates on heavy drawing-paper. Nos. 441 and 444 are on a scale of 3^^, the 

 remaining ones being 40 * 00 . It is believed the information collected can be better under- 

 stood by a study of these projection-charts, so-called, showing, as they do, the characteristic 

 depths of water bottom and the topography of the adjacent lands, than by having it plotted 

 on original projections. 



In the following detailed descriptions the area examined divides itself naturally into the 

 numerous sounds, estuaries, rivers, and creeks, nearly all of which have names, as can be seen 

 from an inspection of the Coast Survey Charts Nos. 156 and 157. 



DESCRIPTION OF AREAS EXAMINED. 



Some general statements may be made here in order to avoid a monotonous repetition of 

 certain facts for each locality. 



