INTRODUCTION 



IX. 



settlers; of the mills and shipping on the St. Croix; of 

 the churches, schools, merchants and professional men ; 

 of the leading families and of the industries of the two 

 cities. Although not sufficiently elaborate to be called 

 history they form a most important contribution to his- 

 tory and must always be regarded when material for 

 Calais and St. Stephen local history and biography is 

 being collected. It was the original intention to repub- 

 lish them in the present volume but the idea was aban- 

 doned as one carrying the book far beyond its reasonable 

 size. It became a question of including the historical 

 sketches and excluding the rich correspondence or vice 

 versa. To have included the sketches would have been 

 gratifying to people in those two cities, although scien- 

 tific readers would have regarded them of but little value. 

 As the work progressed and became more especially a 

 scientific memoir, it was deemed best to sacrifice the 

 historical chapters for the sake of the letters to and from 

 Mr. Boardman and his naturalist friends. In his quiet 

 life ; in his love for home and the locality in which he 

 lived ; in his devotion to natural history and his interest 

 in the antiquities, history and people of the St. Croix, 

 Mr. Boardman was a genuine type of the naturalist of 

 Selborne, and would have felt more satisfied to have 

 been called the Gilbert White of Maine than that of 

 any other title. 



It only remains for me to express my obligations to 

 those who have assisted me in the preparation of this 

 work and to whom I wish to return my grateful acknowl- 

 edgments : 



First of all my thanks are due to the sons of George 

 A. Boardman whose liberality has made possible the 



