ADVERTISEMENT 



, In offering this work to the public, I have little t say, as its charac- 

 ter speaks for itself, but to indicate the sources of the information 

 which it contains, and to give credit to those who, by their works, let- 

 ters or conversation, have aided me in its execution. 



And first, I must express my sincere gratitude to my friend, Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz, who kindly afforded me every assistance in his power, 

 with free access to his fine library, and unrivalled collection of fishes, 

 from which most of my drawings are taken 



To my friend Mr. Perley, of St. Johns, I am indebted for much 

 valuable and interesting information in regard to the fish and fisheries 

 of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; and to Mr. DeBlois, of Port- 

 land, for a communication respecting the great Trout of Sebago Lake, 

 in Maine, which was probably a distinct variety, though the fact can 

 not be easily now ascertained — the noble fish being, alas ! extinct. 



To Mr. Yarrel's fine work on British Fishes, to Holland's British 

 Angler's Manual, to Richardson's Fauna Boreali Americana, to De- 

 Kay's Fishes of New York, to Soyer's Cooking Book, I thankfully 

 t ecord my indebtedness for extracts more or less copious; 



All the cuts were drawn by myself, on wood", either from the dead 

 fishes themselves, or from original drawings in the possession of Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz, lent to me for this purpose, with the exception of the 

 True Salmon — which is copied from his beautiful work on the Fresh- 

 Water Fishes of Europe — of the Arctic Charr, or Masamacush, and 

 the Arctic Grayling — which are taken from Richardson's Boreali A me 



