THE RIVER FISHERIES OF MAINE. 677 



drought the water becomes brackish above Richmond, 14 miles farther up, and the flood-tide is 

 strong enough to reverse the current some 10 miles farther still. On the Penobscot marine algae 

 are not found above Winterport, 18 miles below the natural head of the tide. 



The brackish portions of a river have a lower temperature than the fresh portions, varying 

 with the proportions of sea water present. The oceau water on the coast of Maine has a lower 

 temperature than the fresh rivers all the summer season, from May to October, inclusive. When 

 the salt and fresh water meet they do not immediately commingle, but the fresh water, being 

 lighter, flows out on the surface and the salt water siuks to the depths. On the flood tide a 

 strong inflowing current of salt water exists at the bottom often while the surface current is still 

 flowing seaward. The salt water in the lower stratum, exposed over its entire upper surface to 

 the fresh water, slowly commingles with it and rises, to be replaced by the constantly renewed 

 flood from the sea. 



The most of the rivers empty into broad estuaries before reaching the open sea. The most 

 notable example is the Penobscot, whose estuary is 30 miles long and 20 wide at its mouth. The 

 most notable exceptions are the Kennebec and the Saco, whose lower courses are confined in 

 narrow channels quite to their entrance into the open sea. 



The river fisheries are mainly carried on in the tidal portions, where strong flood and ebb 

 currents alternate. Weir fishing is never attempted above the flow of the tide, and the most 

 common form of weir depends for its working upon the retreat of the tide, which leaves the fish 

 stranded upon a floor. 



The tide averages about 11 feet rise and fall, varying from 8J feet at Saco to 18 feet at 

 Eastport. 



ARTIFICIAL CONDITIONS. The artificial alterations in the condition of the rivers are very 

 considerable. They arise in part from the cultivation of the soil, but mainly from the erection of 

 dams and the throwing of refuse from the saw-mills into the water. The exposure of the bare 

 earth to the action of rains, as in all cultivated fields, especially in hilly districts, results in the 

 washing of great quantities of soil into the rivers, where it settles in all places not swept by strong 

 currents, but more especially near the mouths of the rivers. From the first occupation of the 

 country* until very recent times it has been the general custom to throw into the river all refuse 

 from the saw-mills, including not only sawdust but shavings, edgings, and in many cases even slabs. 



''The aborignal population of Maine does iiot appear to have been at any time very dense. It has been estimated at 

 37,000 in 1615, but the data are exceedingly meager and this may be erroneous. About that time they were greatly reduced 

 by intertribal war, and still more by a destructive pestilence, by which it is believed that whole tribes were nearly ex- 

 terminated. Between 1675 and 1758 they were involved in repeated destructive wars with the whites, by which many 

 perished and many more were driven to emigrate to Canada. By the close of the eighteenth century but a few hundred 

 remained. The coast was much frequented by European fishermen at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and 

 the first settlements were mere fishing stations, located at points convenient for the capture and curing of cod and 

 other marine species. The trade in furs early attracted attention, and many posts were established at accessible points 

 on the coast and larger rivers, mainly with an eye to trade. After the fishermen came the lumbermen, attracted by the 

 magnificent forests of timber which covered the whole laud with the exception of the corn fields of a few thousand 

 aborigines ; and after all there came the white tillers of the soil. The earlier settlements experienced many vicissitudes; 

 some of them were abandoned after a few years existence, and many were swept out of existence by their savage 

 foes ; but there are some settlements that have been continuously occupied from as early a date as 102:!, and many 

 others that can claim almost as long an existence, with the exception of a temporary suspension in consequence of 

 Indian hostilities. Yet so slow was the increase in population that in 1675 (just before the beginning of the Indian 

 wars) there were but 6,000 people in the whole State, there being at that time from 120,000 to 150,000 in all New 

 England. In 1G75 a desolating Indian war broke out, and the progress of settlement was arrested for about forty 

 years. In 1735 the white population is estimated to haw been !i,000; in 1743 there were eleven towns and 12,000 

 people. Wars with the Indians finally closed in 1758, and a year later fear of their renewal was allayed by the con- 

 quest of Canada from France. Immediately alter this began an extensive immigration from Massachusetts, which 

 continued uninterruptedly for more than half a century, and brought the population from 24,000 in 1763 to 96,540 in 

 1789, 298,269 in 1820, and 399,455 in 1830. The population in 1880 was 648,936. 



