Afterward The Connecticut
Came So Near The Course Of The Merrimack That, With A Little
Pains, They Expected To Divert The Current Of The Trade Into The
Latter River, And Its Profits From Their Dutch Neighbors Into
Their Own Pockets.
Unlike the Concord, the Merrimack is not a dead but a living
stream, though it has less life within its waters and on its
banks.
It has a swift current, and, in this part of its course,
a clayey bottom, almost no weeds, and comparatively few fishes.
We looked down into its yellow water with the more curiosity, who
were accustomed to the Nile-like blackness of the former river.
Shad and alewives are taken here in their season, but salmon,
though at one time more numerous than shad, are now more rare.
Bass, also, are taken occasionally; but locks and dams have
proved more or less destructive to the fisheries. The shad make
their appearance early in May, at the same time with the blossoms
of the pyrus, one of the most conspicuous early flowers, which is
for this reason called the shad-blossom. An insect called the
shad-fly also appears at the same time, covering the houses and
fences. We are told that "their greatest run is when the
apple-trees are in full blossom. The old shad return in August;
the young, three or four inches long, in September. These are
very fond of flies." A rather picturesque and luxurious mode of
fishing was formerly practised on the Connecticut, at Bellows
Falls, where a large rock divides the stream.
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