2 Field and Forest Rambles, 



Scotia, Quebec and Ontario, including Prince Edward's Island, 

 New Brunswick is comparatively a wilderness region ; indeed, 

 with the exception of the southern portion, little has yet 

 been done towards reclaiming the vast forests about the 

 sources of the Upper St. John River,* and where the Miramichi 

 and Restigouche take their rise. These embrace districts pre- 

 senting all the features of the primitive forests of other por- 

 tions of the continent; and, although for the most part thinned 

 by the axe of the woodman, they continue still to maintain 

 their ancient denizens, in spite of the trapper and hunter. 

 The moose, woodland reindeer, bear, beaver, sable, mink, etc., 

 although greatly reduced and decreasing in numbers as com : 

 pared with former years, are not yet on the verge of extinction ; 

 and while the excessive waste and destruction by man of the 

 fishes in the lakes and running waters have greatly reduced 

 their numbers, still, notwithstanding the shutting off of migra- 

 tory species by means of mill-dams and other artificial barriers, 

 and the illicit use of the spear and net, vast shoals of salmon, 

 white fishes, smelts, shad, etc., continue to frequent a few of 

 their ancient haunts, and require only a safe passage through 

 obstructions, and some consideration on the part of the settlers, 

 to increase and multiply in many inland waters from which 

 they had been expelled. 



New Brunswick therefore embraces three degrees of lati- 

 tude, and is upwards of 200 miles in breadth, and, although the 

 least populated of the four grand provinces composing the 

 Dominion of Canada, is watered by many large rivers, besides 

 noble lakes, all of which now present a remarkable contrast, 

 as regards the numbers of the fishes, with the boundless 

 waters washing its shores. So much is this the case, that, 

 turning to the narratives of the early voyagers and settlers, we 

 find that incredible quantities of fishes frequented localities 



* The St. John is 450 miles in length, and navigable more or less to 

 its sources, with the exception of the Grand Falls, distant 225 miles from 

 the ocean ; the falls are about 60 feet in height. 



