THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 541 



From both the preceding quotations it appears that Captain Robin- 

 son had been planting- young carp in the Hudson regularly since their 

 establishment in his pond. According- to a writer in Forest and 

 Stream, who signs himself 4i R.' 1 (1874), these were further augmented 

 a few years before that date by the bursting of the dams of Captain 

 Robinson's ponds. He says: 



Mure than fifty years ago Captain Henry Robinson, owner of one of the Havre 

 packets, brought the firsl carp and goldfish to this country from France. He placed 

 them in a small pond on his place in the southern part of this village [Newburgh, 

 N. Y.]. Several years ago, when the dam of the pond broke away, many of the fish 

 escaped into the river. They appear to multiply very rapidly, and any number 

 might be obtained from the fishermen about the bay. 



Finally, in the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission for 

 1882, we find the following letter (dated New York, May 31, 1882), to 

 Professor Baird from Mr. Barnet Phillips (1883): 



Today Mr. James Benkard, vice-president of our fish cultural association, told me 

 that his grandfather, Capt. Henry Robinson, had, about 1830, first brought carp from 

 Holland [sic] and put them in his ponds at Newburg, and that he had therefore 

 reason to suppose that the carp in the Hudson were derived from these. In Frank 

 Forester's "Fish and Fishing," of 1819, page 166, you may find a statement to this 

 effect, which Mr. Benkard says is substantially correct. 



I have thought these data might be useful when the whole history < if the carp 

 in American waters is to he written up. 



In spite of the positive statements in the foregoing quotations there 



still seems to be some question as to whether the true carp was found 



in the Hudson prior to the time of its introduction into tie 1 country 



by the Fish Commission. In the letter to Professor Baird from 



Mr. Shears (1882). dated January 26, 1881, and already quoted, he 



says: 



I notice that the gold-fish are quite plenty in the river in this vicinity [Coxsackie, 

 Greene County, N. Y.]; also a fish about the size and shape, which is called a silver- 

 fish, but they do not correspond to Captain R[obinsori]'s description of the silver-fish. 

 These are nearly or quite as dark as a rock-bass. I have seen none that would weigh 

 over one pound and a half. When caught in fykes by the ii.-hermen, they are usually 

 pronounced unfit to eat and thrown back in the river. However, last fall I saw 

 them peddled through the streets, and the fishermen told me they could catch 

 scarcely any other kind, ami they sold as well as perch or bass. 1 have not had an 

 opportunity to taste any of them, therefore am no judge of their flavor. 



It is to be noted that he makes no mention of the carp. That Pro- 

 fessor Baird was inclined to the opinion that there were no true carp 

 in the Hudson is shown by the following paragraph taken from his 

 report for 1877 (U. S. Fish Commission Report, 1879, p. *43): 



Considerable discussion has arisen as to the person to whom the introduction of 

 the carp into America is due; indeed, it is claimed that this was done many years 

 ago. Certain fish-ponds on the Hudson River are said to have been emptied of their 

 contents by a sudden freshet, and, as a consequence, the Hudson is now full of what 



a Here, again, there is a discrepancy in the date. The introduction of the fish could not have been 

 more than forty-three years before. 



