10 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
spring and early summer when the land game was breeding 
and in poor condition, and life in the woods nearly intolerable 
on account of the insects. Indeed we have historical evidence 
that such was the case. Champlain tells us, “ when they 
(the Indians) do not hunt, they live on a shell-fish called the 
cockle,” the latter, as pointed out on a previous page, being 
the Clam. Denys, speaking of the region about George’s Bay 
and Gut of Canso, tells us there was there “ an abundance of 
Shell-fish of all kinds good to eat, which are the most import- 
ant means of subsistence of the savages during the spring.” 
There is, no doubt, much of interest to antiquarians, and 
something to naturalists, to be learned from a study of 
these shell-heaps. Those of the north shore have been in- 
vestigated by Rev. Dr. Patterson, though not, as he tells 
the writer, with reference to their shells, while those of the 
southern coast have been explored by Mr. G. F. Matthew 
and others, references to which will be found below.* 
For bait in the fisheries, the Squid and the Clam are of 
most importance to us. The latter has been used for a very 
long time, the former for not many years. It seems most 
remarkable that the Mussel, the same species as that of 
Europe, and as abundant, should be totally neglected for this 
purpose. In Europe it is considered the best of baits; it is 
easier to obtain than the Clam and it should be tried by our 
fishermen. The Whelks and other common Molluscs would 
undoubtedly be good for this purpose, but are not abundant 
enough to replace the omnipresent Mussel. 
With us, the so-called mussel-mud is the most important 
fertilizer which the sea yields. This consists chiefly, how- 
ever, of oyster-shells, and its value to Prince Edward Island 
is considered by Mr. J. H. Duvar to be as great as that of the 
living Oysters. We believe that the farmers of the Southern 
and Atlantic coasts would find a rich fertilizer in the masses of 
*Discoveries at a Village of the Stone Age at Bocabec, N.B. By G. F. Matthew. 
Bull. N. B. Natural History Society, No. III., 1884, pp. 6-39. 
Notes on Certain Aboriginal Shell Mounds on the Coast of New Brunswick and of 
New England. By S. F. Baird, Proc. U. S. National Museum. Vol. IV., 1881, pp. 
292-297. 
Also see Trans. N. S. Institute. Vol I., Part n.. 1864. pp. 94-99. 
