168 
extension and growth of any bed is in that direction, the spat 
being carried backward and forward by the ebb and flow of 
the tides. 
The large number of beds near and off Kedge’s Straits is 
probably due to the large number of spat brought out from 
the Sounds through the Straits. 
The bottom is generally of hard sand covered with sponge 
and grass. Near Kedge’s Straits some mud sloughs were 
found, and in some cases the sub-stratum of the beds was of 
clay, but in most of them the stratum of oysters and shells 
was too thick and hard to be penetrated. 
The beds outside the Sounds have been comparatively free 
from dredging, and thus present marked differences from those 
inside. 
They are comparatively longer and narrower, and much 
more sharply defined. Very few scattered oysters are found 
near them, and the beds are much more solid, unbroken, and 
much harder, requiring heavier dredges than those used in 
the Sounds. 
The most remarkable difference is, however, in the shape 
and growth of the oysters. 
On the undredged beds they are long and narrow, with the 
lower shells very deep, and bills very thin and sharp. In no 
case did we find any single oysters of any class. All grew in 
clusters of from three and four to twelve and fifteen. The 
shells were clean and wdiite and free from mud and sand. 
Generally there was found a tuft of red or white sponge at- 
tached to the clusters, and the mature first and second class 
oysters were covered, and the interstices between them filled. 
With those of the third and fourth classes numbers of bar- 
nacles were also found, and some crepidula , but tubicola were 
only present in small numbers. 
The oysters found upon beds that have been much worked 
differ materially, being single and broader, in comparison to 
their length, round and with blunt bills. They are usually 
dark in color, and have a considerable amount of mud and 
sand on the shells. The sponges do not appear to be as 
abundant, and the amount of dredging on any bed may always 
be known by the appearance of the oysters brought up. 
