114 



Brunswick. To Mr. Parley, I would return my best 

 thanks, for enabling me, to cull so much valuable matter 

 from his Fishkbibs of New Brunswick. 



There is probably no part of the world in which such extensive 

 and valuable Fisheries are to be found, as within the Gulf of 

 the Saint Lawrence. Nature has bountifully provided within its 

 waters, the utmost abundance of those fishes which are of the 

 greatest importance to man, as affording not only nutritious and 

 wholesome food, but also the means of profitable employment. 



These fisheries may be prosecuted as well in the open waters 

 of the Gulf, as within every bay, harbour, creek, cove, and inlet 

 in connection with it. Whether on the bleak and sterile coast of 

 Labrador; or on the western coasts of Newfoundland and Cape 

 Breton ; or along the eastern shores of Nova Scotia and New 

 Brunswick ; or within the Bay of Chaleur ; or around Prince 

 Edward's Island, Anticosti, or the Magdalen Islands, the fisher- 

 man may pursue his labours with nearly equal chances of success, 

 and the full prospect of securing an ample reward for his toil. 



Of those Rivers of New Brunswick which flow into the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, the two largest, the Miramichi and the Eesti- 

 gouche, furnish the greatest supply of this "well known and deli- 

 cious fish ; but all the smaller rivers also furnish salmon, in great- 

 er or less numbers. There are also various bays, beaches, 

 islands, and points of land along the coast, where sahnon are 

 intercepted by nets, while seeking the rivers in which they were 

 spawned, to which salmon always return. 



The salmon of the Gulf are noted for their fine flavour ; thy are 

 precisely similar to the salmo salar of Europe. 



The quantities of salmon in the Rivers Restigouche and Mira- 

 michi, at the first settlement of the, country, were perfectly pro- 

 digious ; although many are yet taken annually, the supply dimi- 

 nishes from year to year. And this is not surprising when it is 

 considered, that many of the streams formerly frequented by sal- 

 mon, are now completely shut against them, by mill dams with- 

 out " fishways," or those openings which the British Fishery Re- 



