THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 11 



oysters, my fodder he rake oysters wben lie want 'em, and by Gar! I rake him too!" That was the only argnment 

 he could get. He ofi'ered to allow them to arrange that they control, in common, one of the halves of the bay, 

 leaving to him the other half; but they would submit to no regulation, and listen to no suggestions toward au 

 improvement of method. 



Evidence fkom tue shell-heaps of abundakce in the past. — That the oyster-beds of this region had 

 been a food-resource to the Indians for many generations before white men came to these shores, is proved by the 

 kjokkenmoddings or refuse shell-heaps which occur along the coasts. These relics of aboriginal homes and feasts 

 also stand as evidence that formerly oyster-beds flourished where none have been known within the historic period, 

 and connect the remote, isolated fields of the gulf of St. Lawrence with the oyster-bearing regions in Massachusetts 

 bay and south of Cape Cod. The idea jjrevails that an elevation of the laud and sea-bottom, or a lowering of the 

 average temperature of the climate to a tatal point, on the intermediate coasts, or both, have caused the death of 

 the reefs which once existed. 



To the very extensive submarine beds of dead shells all through the waters of that part of the gulf between 

 Cape ]5reton and Gaspe and around Prince Edward island, I have already alluded. They hardly bear upon our 

 present inquiry, except to prove the extreme auti(iuity of the molhiscan ])opulatiou of that district. Passing down 

 the coast, I heard of old beds and a few living oysters at Jeddore head, near Halifax, "also Country harbor, St. 

 Mary's river, and Liscombe harbor, Guysboro' county, on the outside." In the bay of Fundy I could not learn of a 

 single living oyster, but it appears that formerly they dwelt there. 



In his Field and Forest Rambles, Dr. A. Leith Adams tells us that he examined several shell-heaps on islands 

 in the bay of Fundy and along the fiord of the St. Croix river for many miles. "Although a large number 

 had evidently been leveled and utilized for top-dressing, enough remain to show that, whether as articles of food, 

 bait, or both, the aboriginal races collected vast quantities of the well-known clam and qualtog, besides two species 

 of oyster {Ostrea horealis and Virginiana), and the common forms of Ndtica, Crepidula, Solen, etc., the debris of which 

 strew the coasts of several of the inlets in the bay of Fundy, their numbers evincing the profusion of each species. 

 It has, however, been asserted by no less au authority than Dr. Gould, that all, especially the three first species, 

 ai'e becoming rapidly extinct north of Cape Ann, Massachusetts " (p. 35). 



Having given the substance of the opinion of Dr. Gould and some others as to the reason for the decadence, 

 Dr. Adams goes on to tell what he found in the kjokkenmoddings along the bay of Fundy, ])articHlarly at Passa- 

 maqnoddy bay. The mound was one of several facing the sea on a flat, so that the waves of high tides had washed 

 much of it away, "disclosing a perpendicular section composed almost entirely of clam-shells, interspersed with 

 mussels, whilks, and the common Plauorbis. The former were extremely abundant, and for the most part in 

 fragments; however, I procured several very large ones, averaging 3 by 4i inches in breadth, which the fishermen 

 of the neighborhood told me were very much larger than any recent specimens they had .seen." He then describes 

 the bones of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes that occur in these refuse-heaps, and mentions the absence of charcoal. 



This brings me to the border of Maine, and introduces the proper census inquiry into the "shell-fisheries" of 

 the United States, which occupies the succeeding chapters. 



B. GULE OF MAIjS^E. 



4. FORMER EXTENT AND CONDITION OF THE NATIVE BEDS IN THE GULF OF MAINE. 



EVIDENCE OF INDIAN SHELL-HEAPS.. 



Description of the New England shell-heaps. — In beginning an account of oysters on the coasts of the 

 gulf of Maine, which extends from Nova Scotia to Cape Cod, the most prominent fact in relation to them appears 

 to be their former abundance in comparison with theu' present extinction. The historical aspect will, therefore, be 

 the first to be considered. The readiest way to begin this is to proceed to Damariscotta, a seaport village iu 

 Lincoln county, Maine, where exists the greatest monument extant to the antiquity of the oyster in these waters. 



Above the village, the Damariscotta river pursues a narrow course between precipitous banks for about a mile, 

 after which it expands into a shallow basin, about one mile long by one-half to one-quarter of a mile wide, known 

 as Salt bay. At its northern extremity are rapids and cataracts, formed by a rocky ledge lying across a narrow 

 channel, and above this is tlie extensive fresh-water area of Damariscotta pond. The ialls at the head of Salt bay 

 limit the tide, and furnish water-power for several sawing and flouring mills. 



Salt bay is nowhere more than a few feet deep, unless it be here and theie iu the direct channel, plowed out by 

 the swift tide, and the bottom is gravel, or was so anciently. It is so lar inland that its waters are always 

 comfortably warm, and it is, therefore, not surprising to find that it formed the cbosen home of a large and flourishing 

 colony of oysters, that seem to have found there the most congenial conditions for growth. The evidence of this 

 is aftorded in the great shell-heaps that have made the locality celebrated among antiquarians. 



