The northern limit of the Sturgeon in America is probably between the 55th and 56th parallels of latitude. Dr. Richardson did not meet with any account of its existence to the north of Stewart's Lake, on the west side of the Rocky Mountains; and on the east side it does not go higher than the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. It is not found in Churchill River, nor in any of the branches of the Mackenzie or other streams that fall into the Arctic Seas--a remarkable circumstance when we consider that some species swarm in the Asiatic rivers which flow into the Icy Sea. Sturgeons occur in all the great lakes communicating with the St. Lawrence, and also along the whole Atlantic coast of the United States down to Florida. Peculiar species inhabit the Mississippi; it is, therefore, probable that the range of the genus extends to the Gulf of Mexico. The great rapid which forms the discharge of the Saskatchewan into Lake Winnipeg appears quite alive with these fish in the month of June; and some families of the natives resort thither at that time to spear them with a harpoon, or grapple them with a strong hook tied to a pole. Notwithstanding the great muscular power of the Sturgeon, it is timid; and Dr. Richardson saw one so frightened at the paddling of a canoe, that it ran its nose into a muddy bank, and was taken by a _voyageur_, who leaped upon its back. In Colombia River, a small species of Sturgeon attains eleven feet in length, and a weight of six hundred pounds.[20] It is caught as high up as Fort Colville, notwithstanding the numerous intervening cataracts and rapids which seem to be insuperable barriers to a fish so sluggish in its movements. The Sturgeon is styled a Royal Fish in England, because, by a statute of Edward II. it is enacted, "the King shall have Sturgeon taken in the sea, or elsewhere, within the realm." FOOTNOTES: [18] "The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British Columbia." By John Keast Lord, F.Z.S., Naturalist to the British North American Boundary Commission. [19] The Petrel is similarly used in the Faroe Islands. (See _ante_, p. 234.) It may, therefore, be called the Candle Bird. [20] Dr. Richardson. The _Huro_ is reported by Pallas to attain a weight of nearly three thousand pounds, and a length exceeding thirty feet. THE TREE-CLIMBING CRAB.