69 



immigrant we have an ample history in the accounts of the 

 earlier travellers. Bnffaloes in enormons herds reached 

 almost to the Atlantic coast, wherever extensive x^lains 

 existed. The antelopes rivalled in numbers those of Cen- 

 tral and South Africa. The deer of various sj)ecies were 

 distributed over the continent from the Arctic regions 

 southward, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The 

 moose existed far south of its present limit. The elk was 

 a. familiar inhabitant of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Wild 

 fowl, such as ducks, geese, swans, etc., of many species, 

 were found during the winter in countless myriads in the 

 Chesapeake and other southern bays and sounds. 



Now what remains of this multitude ? The buffalo has 

 long since disappeared from the vicinity of the Mississippi 

 River ; the deer is nearly exterminated in many localities, 

 though still holding its own under favorable circumstances, 

 and the antelope is limited to restricted areas. The wild 

 fowl, congregated at one time in bodies many miles in 

 extent, are now scarcely to be seen, although proportion- 

 ately more abundant in the winter season on the coast of 

 California, and towards the mouth of the Rio Grande, in 

 Texas, than anywhere else. 



Perhaps a still more striking illustration is seen in the 

 fishes. It is still within the recollection of many old 

 people (showing how plentiful the fish must have been) 

 that the apprentice and pauper in the vicinity of Connect- 

 icut River protested against eating salmon more than 

 twice a week. This noble fish existed in all the waters 

 of New England as far west as the Connecticut, and even 

 to the Housatonic, though we have no evidence that they 

 ever occurred in tlie Hudson River, or farther to the 

 south. The shad was found in every stream of the coast 

 from Georgia to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and although 

 still ascending most of these waters during the spring, has 

 been sadly reduced in abundance. 



