oyster and mussel report. 121 



Bay of Aiguillon. 



This large shallow bay with flat muddy shores miles of 

 which are exposed at low tide has become celebrated 

 through the peculiar method of mussel cultivation there 

 carried on. The bouchot system owes its origin to the 

 wreck in 1035 of an Irish barque loaded with sheep upon 

 the rocks near the village of Esnandes.* The only man 

 rescued was the captain, named Walton, who having saved 

 some of the sheep from the wreck crossed them with the 

 animals of the country and produced a fine race, the marsh 

 sheep, which is still held in high estimation. Walton also 

 devised a kind of net the " allouret " which he stretched 

 on poles above the level of the sea to catch the flocks ot 

 birds which fly across the surface of the bay after dark. 

 In order to carry the net far out over the mud he had to 

 drive in many poles, and he soon found that these 

 became covered with mussel spat, and that the shellfish 

 grown in this way in the open water above the mud were 

 of superior quality. This led to the construction of the 

 first artificial mussel plantation or set of bouchots. 



Walton also invented the " pousse pied " or " aeon" the 

 characteristic boat of the boucholeurs still in constant use 

 for traversing the soft mud — I had a trip in one last July. 

 The " aeon " is composed of a plank forming the bottom 

 and bent up in front to make a flat prow (PI. Ill, fig. 1.) 

 The sides and stern are each formed of one piece of wood, 

 sometimes the sides are of two planks each. The size is 

 9 or 10 ft. in length, from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. wide and about 

 1 ft. 6 in. deep. There is a shelf at the stern, a narrow 

 thwart close to the bow, and a small wooden stool in the 

 middle of the floor — these with a wooden paddle and a 

 short pole complete the equipment. The boatman in using 



* For this historical fact I am indebted to Quatrefages' " Souvenirs d'un 

 Naturaliste," Paris, 1854. 



