45 



in which the motion of the vessel would be least felt. With much difficulty, 

 andatthecostof great personal exertion on the part of all concerned, about 

 90,000 salmon ova, and about 1,500 trout ova were obtained, and safely packed 

 in deal boxes, each a foot long, eight inches wide, and four inches deep. In 

 some of the boxes, a layer of charcoal was first placed on the bottom, then a 

 layer of moss damped in pure water, then ova were lightly placed on the 

 moss, and the whole covered with another layer of damp moss — upon which 

 the lid was screwed down. In the remaining boxes the charcoal was omitted, 

 the packing otherwise being the same. Through the lid and bottom of each 

 box several small holes were drilled, and all the ova were packed in 181 boxes. 

 The boxes were next plaiced on the bottom of the ice-house, which was filled 

 up with blocks of Wenham-lake ice, and the whole securelj' closed. All being 

 complete, the vessel sailed from London towards the end of January last and 

 left Falmouth on the 28th of that month. For some time before his arrival at 

 Melbourne, Mr. Ramsbottom naturally felt very anxious as to the condition of 

 his precious freight, or, as he expressed it, every time the vessel bumped 

 against a sea he mentally ejaculated, " There goes another thousand of them !" 

 On the 15th of April, the Norfolk arrived in Melbourne. On the next day, 

 the ice-house was opened, and the small boxes unpacked. The lid of one box 

 was then removed by Mr. Kamsbottom, with fear and trembling, but, to his 

 great satisfaction, a large number of the embedded ova were found to 

 be alive. Eleven of the small boxes were then left in Melbourne, 

 and the remaining 170 were placed on board H. M. C. S. S. 

 * * Victoria, " in large open packing cases, with holes drilled in the bottoms. Broken 

 ice was spread on the tops of the small boxes in each packing case, larger ice 

 was piled on the cases, and the whole were then covered with bags of sawdust 

 and blankets. About half the ice had melted during the voyage. Mr, Rams- 

 bottom speaks in very high terms of the prompt and efficient assistance afforded 

 him by Captain Tonkin and the officers and men of the " Norfolk," to whom 

 Tasmania therefore owes a large debt of gratitude. Captain Norman and the 

 officers and men of the " Victoria" also evinced the most lively interest in all 

 the proceedings, and seconded all Mr. Ramsbottom's efforts for the speedy 

 transport of the ova to the Derwent in a manner beyond all praise. On the 17th 

 April the " Victoria" left Melbourne and arrived at Hobart Town on the 20th. 

 The packing cases and ice (of which latter there still remained more than ten 

 tons) were then carefully placed on a barge, packed as before, and were towed 

 to New Norfolk by the steamer " Emu" which was detained until a late hour 

 on the night of the 20th for the purpose. From New Norfolk the barge was 

 towed by boats to the Falls oa the morning of the 21st, and the packing cases 

 were then landed and slung on stout poles and carried by hand to the ponds 

 already prepared at the River Plenty. The remaining ice was transferred to 

 the ponds in carts, the contents of each being well covered with straw. The 

 first batch of cases arrived at the ponds about the middle of the day on 

 Thursday the 21st April last, 90 days after the placing of the ova on board 

 the " Norfolk." 



On their arrival Mr. Ramsbottom immediately proceeded to prepare the 

 gravel beds for the reception of the ova. A slight description of the ponds 

 is here necessary. These ponds were arranged in accordance with plans brought 

 by my brother Mr, Curzon Allport from the Stormontfield establishment on 

 the Tay, which he visited at my request for this express purpose. "Water is led 

 from the River Plenty by a race to a small plot of grass land above flood mark. 

 Sluices are placed on this race to regulate the supply of water. From the main 

 race a smaller one leads directly into the clearing pond, which is circular, about 

 five feet deep, and forty feet in diameter. Thence the water is led by two 

 covered wooden troughs into an open wooden trough at right angles with the 

 covered tx'oughs. From the open wooden trough small sluices let off the water 

 in any quantity desired directly into the gravel hatching beds. These consist 

 of wooden boxes about five feet long by two feet wide. There are 12 of them 

 arranged in 4 rows. The water passes with a slight fall into the upper end of 

 the first box in each row, over the lower end of that box into the upper end 

 of the second box, and so on to the lowest, where the water from each row 

 passes over a series of shallow gravelly pools to a pond, about 120 yds, long, 

 and forty feet wide, varying in depth from 2 to 9 feet. All the surplus water 

 from the clearing pond also finds its way into this larger pond by a covered 

 drain, ensuring a permanent supply of clear cool water. All the entrances to and 

 exits from the pond and hatching beds are carefully guarded by covering them 

 with perforated zinc. As the day on which the first of the ova arrived at the 

 Plenty was warm with a bright sun shining, a tent was erected over the gravel 

 beds; the temperatuie of the water in which was found to be about 55 ° Fah. 



