viii. INTRODUCTION 



his studies ; as indicating the value which the great sci- 

 entists of England and America placed upon his work, 

 the high esteem in which his friendship was held, as well 

 as his judgment consulted and depended upon by them. 



Thus the volume has grown as the material has been 

 made use of. If it is larger than originally designed, the 

 hope may be expressed that it is not too minute to satisfy 

 Mr. Boardman's friends, while it would have been an 

 eas}^ matter to have made it more comprehensive. 



There is yet a vast mass of unused material as enter- 

 taining as any that has been made use of, or that appears 

 in the work. Among this material are many letters 

 from our greatest and best known naturalists of Mr. 

 Boardman's day, with unpublished notes and chapters 

 on natural history subjects. These record Mr. Board- 

 man's observations with great carefulness and in a style 

 extremely graphic and interesting. 



During the last few years of his life Mr. Boardman 

 wrote much for the local newspapers of Calais and St. 

 Stephen. While this was done as a matter of personal 

 amusement the articles thus contributed were exceed- 

 ingly entertaining. These extend to more than two 

 hundred and are upon a wide range of subjects — those 

 of current interest; relating to his own observations or 

 the result of his wide reading ; upon natural history sub- 

 jects and upon topics that were engaging the attention 

 of people of the two cities. 



Of especial interest to residents of St. Stephen and 

 Calais was a series of thirty articles or chapters, under 

 the general heading: Early Times on the St. Croix. 

 These consisted largely of Mr. Boardman's personal 

 reminiscences. They embraced sketches of the early 



