OYSTEK AND MUSSEL REPORT. 119 



two, of the " Portuguese " oyster, Ostrea angulata. This 

 they commence at the very beginning by placing in their 

 pares large quantities of plain tiles kept in place by stones. 

 After the first summer these tiles are found to be covered 

 with spat which has been produced from "natural" (i.e. 

 not cultivated) Portuguese oysters in the neighbouring 

 sea. The tiles are brought ashore in small flat boats and 

 the young oysters are separated and then laid down again 

 in the pares, where I am told they grow very rapidly so 

 that at the end of a year they are very much larger than 

 those at Arcachon of the same age. 



At Le Chateau I met Mons. Charles Laray, Courtier 

 maritime, to whom I am indebted for some information in 

 regard to the fisheries of the neighbourhood. M. Laray 

 told me that there are now 10,000 people who make their 

 living by oyster culture on this part of Oleron. The 

 Portuguese oysters are found growing naturally over the 

 rocks and anything else they can adhere to at several 

 places in the neighbourhood such as the mouth of the 

 river at Kochefort, and at Port des Barques, Fouras, &c. 

 These are frequently gathered by the people while still 

 small and transferred to the pares. Flat oysters (0. edulis) 

 were to be obtained in a similar manner round the coast 

 twenty years ago, but now they say they are never seen. 



Mussels used also to be cultivated at Oleron, but they 

 have become scarce, and do not seem to have been doing 

 well during the last couple of years. This the men 

 attribute to the hot seasons which they say are not 

 favourable to mussel culture. Other shell fish (Tapes) are 

 scraped up on the beach and brought into the market, but 

 only in small quantities. 



The whole island of Oleron is very flat and the sea is 

 taken for miles inland by means of canals so as to fill the 

 claires and salt pans which one comes upon in driving 



