BULLETIN OF THE (JMTED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 2G7 



tate of beautifnl grounds. A small stream ran througb tbe tract; its 

 bed was in a deep ravine, and its waters emptied into the Hudson Riv^er. 



"A copious artificial fishpond, in the center of which was a small is- 

 land surmounted bv a summer-house, was midway between the broad 

 front gateway and the mansion. There was a narrow bridge across the 

 fish pond to the summer-house, and from the bridge could be seen hund- 

 reds of French carp, which Captain Eobinson had himself brought with 

 great care from France in his own ship. The place was in charge of a 

 man named Beckwitli, a trusted agent of Captain Eobiuson, during his 

 absence on his voyages, and he devoted especial care to the fish-pond and 

 the carp. 



" They were the first of that species of fish I had ever seen, and I re- 

 member their form and appearance as well as I do the place, its owner, 

 and all that I have described of the one and the other. I have seen 

 tlie carp bred from the imported stock of Mr. Poppe, in Sonoma County, 

 California, and on first seeing those I immediately recognized them to 

 be of the same species as the carp I had seen in Captain Robinson's 

 fish-ponds. Although I was young at the time I distinctly remember 

 what Captain Robinson said in his enthusiastic description of the fish. 



"At what period he first brought them to this country 1 know nothing. 

 I remember, however, that he had added to the original stock the year 

 I visited his place, and I am sure that my recollection of the fish itself 

 is as clear as it is of the varieties of fish in Isew York Harbor, in the 

 ISTorth and East rivers, whicli I used to catch when a boy." 



Mr. Robert Poppe, of Sonoma, introduced some carp from Germany 

 in 1872 and claims that his were the first German carp introduced. Mr. 

 O'Meara calls both " French carp." Are both Cyprinus carpio ? 



REPLY BY PKOFESSOB BATED. 



There is much uncertainty as to what was done in the way of intro- 

 ducing carp before the efforts of Mr. Poi)pe, in 1872 ; but while it is 

 doubtless the fact that Captain Robinson brought over fish, there is no 

 certainty that they were the genuine carp. I am inclined to think that 

 they were the Prussian carp, an allied species much inferior in value. 



A so-called carp is found in great abundance in the Hudson River. 

 I have seen wagon-loads brought up by a single haul of the seine. 

 These appeared to me, when I saw them, to be hybrids between gold- 

 fish and the Prussian carp. 



In former times it was very difficult to obtain perfectly pure breeds 

 of carp, as they were kept largely in the same waters with goldfish, 

 with which they hybridize very readily. 



The improvement in the stock is due almost entirely to the Germans, 

 neither France nor England yet having anything b-^tter than the old- 

 fashioned variety, which is of poor quality. 



Washington, D. C, March 15, 1884. 



