Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/175

 *2T.29.] TO ELLIOT CABOT. 151

You will excuse me for taking toll in the shape of some, it may be, impertinent and unsci entific inquiries. There are found in the waters of the Concord, so far as I know, the following kinds of fishes :

Pickerel. Besides the common, fishermen dis tinguish the Brook, or Grass Pickerel, which bites differently, and has a shorter snout. Those caught in Walden, hard by my house, are easily distinguished from those caught in the river, being much heavier in proportion to their size, stouter, firmer fleshed, and lighter colored. The little pickerel which I sent last, jumped into the boat in its fright.

Pouts. Those in the pond are of different appearance from those that I have sent.

Breams. Some more green, others more brown.

Suckers. The horned, which I sent first, and the black. I am not sure whether the Common or Boston sucker is found here. Are the three which I sent last, which were speared in the river, identical with the three Hack suckers, taken by hand in the brook, which I sent before ? I have never examined them minutely.

Perch. The river perch, of which I sent five specimens in the box, are darker colored than those found in the pond. There are myriads of small ones in the latter place, and but few large