336 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
going into the net, but a larger number, old and young, are torn h' oDl 
their native bed, and buried in the mud. It would be difficult t° 
imagine a more destructive process ; and when the habits of the oyst el 
are considered, it is evidently one admirably contrived to destroy the i“ ice ' 
In France oyster dredging is conducted by fleets of thirty or f° r ^ 
boats, each carrying four or five men. At a fixed hour, and under t| ie 
surveillance of a coastguard in a pinnace bearing the national flag, 
flotilla commences the fishing. In the estuary of the Thames 
th e 
a. 
practice is much the same, although no official surveillance is observe 1 
Each bark is provided with four or five dredges, resembling in shap 1 
Fig. 131. i>rag-net employed in Oyster fisheries. 
a common clasp purse. It is formed of network, with a strong i r£)I1 
frame, as represented in Fig. 131, the iron frame serving the dou 
purpose of acting as a sucker, and keeping the mouth open, 
giving it a proper pressure as it travels over the oyster-beds. ”^ ie * 
the boat is over the oyster scarp, the dredge is let down, and no 
attractive sight exists than that presented by the well-app 0111 1 
Whitstable boats on one side of the estuary, or the Colne boats on 
the 
from 
other, as they wear and tack over the oyster-beds, bearing up ^ 
time to time to haul in the dredge, and empty its contents into 
hold. The tension of the rope is the signal for hauling in, and ve 
heterogeneous are the contents — sea- weeds, star-fishes, lobsters, era 
