274 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



After remaining two weeks in New York, during which time I com- 

 menced my investigations in regard to the shell-fisheries, I went to 

 Boston, in order to avail myself of the counsel and experience of Profes- 

 sor Agassiz, to whom M. Coste had given me a letter of introduction. 



With the utmost readiness and kindness, (for which I tender him my 

 thanks,) the professor made me acquainted with the best means of pro- 

 moting the success of my undertaking. He pointed out to me those por- 

 tions of the coast of the Northern States which I ought especially to 

 study, and generously placed himself at my service to direct me in the 

 most fruitful path of investigation. Nevertheless, when he learned that 

 my stay in America cOuld not exceed a month, he did not hesitate to 

 express his opinion of the great difficulty attendant upon so limited a 

 period. In his judgment the investigations I had undertaken in regard 

 to the oyster fisheries alone would require much more time than had 

 been accorded to me ; for, in the United States, where there is no fiscal 

 import duty upon fish, as in France, it is difficult to ascertain the statis- 

 tics of amounts consumed ; and since each State is regulated by its own 

 laws, it is only by personal observation that exact knowledge could be 

 obtained. 



The transportation of a large number of the mollusks in the month 

 of June, seemed to Professor Agassiz extremely hazardous, and he also 

 informed me that in consequence of the interest he felt in the success of 

 an enterprise which had been initiated by His Majesty himself, he 

 dreaded nothing so much as a failure, which without really proving 

 anything against the undertaking, might yet lead to its relinquishment. 



It is evident that I could not but be impressed by such important 

 considerations, and deeming it to be my duty not to act without positive 

 orders from your excellency, I requested Professor Agassiz to write to 

 M. Coste, and explain the reasons why my departure from the United 

 States should be deferred. 



On the 27th of April I received from Cambridge the following com- 

 munication : 



" I have just forwarded to M. Coste a long letter, written in accord- 

 ance with the opinion I expressed to you in regard to the necessity of 

 prolonging your stay in the United States, in order to accomplish the 

 object of your commission. I consider it indispensable that you should 

 pass the warm season here, if you would become acquainted with all that 

 concerns the fishery and the preservation of our oysters, and that you 

 wait until autumn to transport with any chance of success the mollusks 

 which are to be acclimated on the shores of France, &c. 



"Agassiz." 



While awaiting a reply from your excellency, I began at Boston some 

 experiments with reference to the best mode of treating the mollusks 

 during their passage across the Atlantic. I bought for this purpose a 

 number of Virginia clams and oysters, which were placed in tubs or 



