Destruction of Herring Fry. 265 



with the lagoon is by the passage just mentioned. During 

 high tide the waves rush up this channel with force, stirring 

 up the mud of the lagoon, when the water in the basin fre- 

 quently assumes almost the consistency of pea-soup. Thus 

 the lagoon is a shallow morass of brackish water at low tide, 

 receiving a constant supply of fresh water from the stream 

 which is depositing its debris on the slimy bottom ; moreover, 

 land-shells and other organic remains are being conveyed by 

 the stream or washed by the rain into the basin, whilst on the 

 other hand the powerful tidal wave of the Bay of Fundy 

 brings up quantities of marine mollusca, radiata, etc., remains 

 of which strew its bottom and sides. Such, in all probability, 

 has been the usual state of matters in this quiet corner of the 

 bay for unreckoned ages, broken only at long intervals by 

 occurrences such as I shall now describe. 



On the 24th of September, 1867, a very heavy gale from 

 the west blew directly into Anderson's Cove, and more especi- 

 ally on the entrance of the lagoon at the eastern end. The 

 result was, that the mud became disturbed to an unusual 

 extent, and the amount of the water in the area was doubled in 

 quantity. During the gale enormous numbers of dead fishes 

 were seen floating on the surface of the turbid waters of the 

 morass, and on the following morning, when the hurricane 

 had subsided, a spectacle presented itself surpassing anything 

 of the kind observed by the residents on previous occasions. 

 The entire lagoon, from its entrance to the limits of the tide, 

 was covered with dead fishes. The species, with the excep- 

 tion of a few mackerel and New York flounders, was found to 

 be the young of the American herring (Chipea elongate?) ave- 

 raging about six inches in length. This fish is said to spawn 

 in the neighbourhood, and usually large shoals had been 

 observed for some weeks previously in and about Anderson's 

 Cove. I chanced to be in the vicinity about a fortnight after 

 the occurrence just mentioned, and, when on my way to the 

 scene of the disaster, was made uncomfortably aware of their 



