REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 77 
as the temperature was so low that there would have been but little 
meltage and eggs could not be kept moist by this means. Instead of 
this the eggs were watered every day after leaving Honolulu, care 
being taken to have the water of the same temperature as the room. 
This water was taken aboard ship at San Franciso and Honolulu and 
no condensed water was used. The isolated car used for transporting 
the eggs from Littleton to Kurow was a freight car with double walls 
for keeping out the heat. Ice was packed in the car with the eggs 
and on arrival at Kurow the interior of the car was cold and a large 
proportion of the ice remained. As the eggs arrived in New Zealand 
during the extremely warm weather of summer, it is not thought that 
they could have been safely transported without this car, as it is a 12- 
hour journey from Littleton to Kurow. Only three times during the 
trip did the temperature of the eggs get above 37° or below 35°—once 
on December 22, when it was 48°, and once on December 26, when it 
was 42°; on the 29th it fell to 32°. At such times the temperature was 
either lowered or raised until it was at 36°, the temperature main- 
tained during the trip. In making the trip the eggs were loaded and 
unloaded 15 times, and though great care was exercised, they received 
at times some very hard jolts. 
BATTLE CREEK STATION, CALIFORNIA (G. H. LAMBSON, SUPERINTENDENT), 
A rack was constructed in August under the direction of Mr. Ledg- 
erwood, and the two retaining racks were placed in position by the 
middle of the month, so that no salmon could ascend the stream. The 
station was then left in charge of a watchman until September 23, 
when the force reported and work was commenced on the ditch and 
flume. It was found necessary to place new flumes and to make a 
number of improvements to the mess-house. 
As very few fish were noticed in the stream in October, an exami- 
nation of the mouth of the creek was made, and it was found that a 
sandbar had formed across it near the site of the old racks, which 
caused the water to pass through Cottonwood Slough and lessened 
the flow in the regular channel. The bar was partially removed and 
the water restored to the old channel. On October 12 a number of 
hauls of the seine were made and 11 ripe fish were secured. Fishing 
continued throughout the month whenever the number of fish in the 
pool warranted, and as a result 865,500 eggs were obtained, though 
many were of poor quality, owing to long confinement of the fish. 
In November fishing was irregular, as the run continued very light, 
though reports from the Lower Sacramento indicated that the run 
below Red Bluff was larger than it had been for years. To ascertain 
the whereabouts of the fish and to learn the cause of their not ascend- 
ing as far as Battle Creek, two men were sent to make investigations. 
They found that the river from Battle Creek to Red Bluff was almost 
barren of salmon, but that the stream from Red Bluff to Tehama was 
full, the number increasing the lower they went. They also found 
