BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 46o 



163.— A DESIRE FOR FISH-OULTURE IIV MALACCA, 

 By LEONARD WBAY. 



[From a letter to Prof. S. F. Baird.] 



You may be somewhat surprised to fiud that the subject of fish-cult- 

 ure is of cousiderable importance even to this small Malay state, but 

 such is really the case ; I refer, however, solely to those fish which will 

 live and breed in the many rivers and mountain streams of this penin- 

 sula; to freshwater fish, in fact. Personally I am more interested in 

 mountain streams and sheets of water, at from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above 

 sea-level, which have a temperature ranging from below 50° Fahr. up 

 to 75° Fahr. in the middle of the day. 



Among the many fish that I wish to establish in this state, if possi- 

 ble, are the American whitefish (which I see are now being incubated 

 in England) and the shad, of which I perceive you have bred and dis- 

 tributed over 30 millions of young fry. We have in Calcutta an abun- 

 dant supply of a shad termed " hilsa," which seems, if not identical, at 

 least nearly so, with the United States variety. I have eaten numbers 

 of them, both in America and in India, and I fancy your shad is the 

 thicker fish. The questions arise : Can we in any way manage to get 

 the fecundated ova of this delicious fish ? And will they breed and 

 thrive in our streams ? If any competent person in India would under- 

 take the matter, no doubt we could get any amount of ova sent down 

 here in ice; but at present 1 know of no one in. India who even dreams 

 of fish-culture. Must the shad of necessity go periodically to the sea or 

 can it be " educated" to put up with a freshwater life altogether? 



Have you in the grand rivers and lakes of the United States any true 

 mullet which will thrive wholly in fresh water 1 I fancy that there are 

 purely freshwater mullets in the upper rivers of India ; but it is now 

 so many years since I lived in those parts that I cannot be certain. One 

 of the great delicacies of Jamaica is the mountain mullet, but I cannot 

 imagine how to get the ova here in good condition, as a letter just re- 

 ceived took 42 days in transmission from that island to this place. I 

 must try to accomplish it by the aid of the National Fish Culture Asso- 

 ciation of England, and they may be able to send me the American 

 shad also. 



Strait of Perak, via Penano, Malacca, June 25, 18S5. 



REPLY OF PROFESSOR BAIRD. 



Although it is not entirely impossible, with a suitable expenditure of 

 money, yet it would involve much uncertainty of a satisfactory result 

 to attempt to transfer a fish from the United States to Malacca. The 

 two difficulties in the way are the distance to be traveled and the tem- 

 perature to be encountered. The shad is very difficult to transport, 



