THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 743 



" It was easy enough to manage the temperatures of all the tanks except those containing the 

 lobsters; but these gave us a good deal of trouble, because they could only be cooled by exchanging 

 the water on the lobsters with the water in the coolers, and by using the stone jugs containing the 

 freezing mixture. On very warm days it was extremely difficult to reduce the temperature in the 

 lobster tanks as fast as the heat of the day raised it. With great pains, however, we succeeded 

 in preventing it from rising high enough to do any mischief." 



At Omaha one lobster was found dead. It " proved to be the one that had hatched its brood 

 at Boston, and was undoubtedly not in condition to survive the journey. * * * No further 

 mishap occurred during the journey. We passed the Laramie Plains into the Rocky Mountains 

 in safety, and on the morning of June 17 descended into the valley of Great Salt Lake at Ogden, 

 with lobsters, striped bass, black bass, and the remaining eels in splendid order. We made the 

 transfer to the Central Pacific Railroad at Ogden successfully, and renewed our anxious journey 

 with lighter hearts and more hope of favorable results than we had dared to entertain in all the 

 previous part of the journey. Cheered by the hope of getting the fish through alive, we redoubled 

 our exertions and kept at work with the dippers every minute, aerating the water in the tanks 

 night and day till we reached Sacramento June 20, at 10.30 a. in. (eight days after the start). 



" The lobsters were carried to Oakland wharf by the writer, where they were met by a steamer 

 chartered for the purpose, which took them to the Bonito light-house, under the shadow of which, 

 in a sheltered bay a few miles outside the Golden Gate, I had the pleasure of placing them with 

 my own hands the first lobsters ever introduced into the Pacific Ocean. They were all in splen- 

 did condition except one, and had with them over a million eggs nearly ready to hatch. 



" Thus terminated one of the most important and difficult expeditions ever attempted with 

 living fishes. The dangers they had to encounter were innumerable. It seemed as if only a miracle 

 could save them, but they escaped all their dangers, and the result was as gratifying as it was 

 unexpected."* 



RESULT OF THE EXPERIMENTS. Despite the numerous favorable reports made from time to 

 time on the appearance of young lobsters in the vicinity of San Francisco, since the first introduc- 

 tion above described, we cannot find that any of them are authentic or based upon the examination 

 of specimens by persons capable of identifying the species. Numerous small lobster-like forms that 

 never attain a greater length than a very few inches at the most, live upon the California coast, 

 and might easily be mistaken for genuine young lobsters by one not well acquainted with the 

 structure of the latter. Such forms are undoubtedly taken at times in the nets of the fishermen 

 and have probably given rise to the reports mentioned. 



Mr. W. N. Lockington, of San Francisco, who had been studying the Crustacea of California, 

 was applied to, in 1880, for information regarding the matter. In reply he states : " I have been 

 unable to ascertain whether any young lobsters have yet been taken in our waters. Reported 

 examples prove, on inquiry, to be ' something like lobsters,' probably Gebia or Callianassa, which 

 are very plentiful along sandy shores. An introduction worthy of mention, however, is that of 

 the King Crab (Limulus Polyphemus), the young of which are supposed to have been brought over 

 mingled with the spat of the eastern oyster, which has been largely imported for transplantation 

 to the shallow waters of San Francisco Bay." 



More recent information is wanting and there is still a possibility that some of the last lot 

 of lobsters introduced may have survived. Before further shipments are made, it would be well 

 to compare the coast temperatures of the two sides of the continent, with the view of ascertaining 

 where on the west coast the conditions most resemble those of New England, whence the supplies 

 are obtained. 



* Report United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Part VII, for 1879 (1882), pp. 637-644. 



