APPENDIX. 261 



Eleven young gouramis were also safely transported, in 

 the autumn of 1864, from the island of Mauritius to Al- 

 geria, but their fate is likewise unknown. Attempts have 

 been made to introduce the species into Egypt; but the 

 results, so far as known, have not proved favorable. 



The interest excited in the gourami, and the attempts to 

 acclimatize it, have not been confined to the French. The 

 English settlers of Australia and Tasmania have endeavored 

 to introduce the species into their waters, and individuals 

 have survived the voyage to those distant countries. At 

 Victoria, Melbourne, and Hobartstown, there are acclima- 

 tization societies which have undertaken the introduction, 

 into their respective districts, of desirable plants and ani- 

 mals ; and of the fishes, the gourami has been one of the 

 most sought for. Individuals of that species were secured 

 for Victoria, through the exertions of a merchant of the 

 town, but the history of the undertaking is unknown. At 

 Melbourne, after unsuccessful efforts, the Society of Accli- 

 matization finally received, from Mauritius, eighteen living 

 fish, out of a total of thirty that were embarked for that 

 place. No accessible record exists of its introduction into 

 Tasmania. 



The impracticability of naturalizing it in cold countries. 

 Such is the history of the more prominent attempts to 

 introduce the gourami into foreign waters. The narrative 

 will readily demonstrate that its acclimatization in even 

 warm temperate countries is by no means easy ; and the 

 natural inference, resulting from a study of the fate of 

 those efforts, is that it will be useless to attempt its domi- 

 ciliation in countries where the temperature in winter is 

 sufficiently low to allow ice to form on the streams. If, 

 therefore, it is desired to introduce the fish in the Ameri- 

 can waters, the attempt must be made in the Southern 

 States, and in warm or protected pools or ponds. It will 



