40 ON A NEW TERAPON, BY J. DOUGLAS OGILBYe 
fish, at once recognised in it their old friend of Gowrie 
Creek, further told me that they rarely grew to a pound 
in weight, while some were but three inches long, the 
average being about midway between these two extremes. 
They added, too, that the fishes were most delicious 
eating. As Gowrie Creek takes its source from a swamp, 
it is plain that this incursion of fishes, which may be com- 
pared to the hordes of bush rats and mice which occasionally 
devastate our inland districts, had made their way up 
Gowrie Creek from the Condamine, into which it flows. 
Three months after their arrival, when many thousands 
had been captured without any appreciable diminution 
in their numbers, another flood came, and on its sub- 
sidence it was found that they had disappeared to the 
last fin as suddenly and mysteriously as they had come ; 
nor, so far as [ can ascertain, have they ever again appeared 
in that locality. It will be be very interesting, therefore, 
to note whether the arrival of this fish at Stanthorpe is 
the precursor of a sporadic invasion there similar to 
that which took place at Gowrie eighteen years ago. 
The thanks of the community are due to Mr. White, 
of Pikedale, the collector of the specimen above described, 
who, on finding that the creek, in which they had so 
mysteriously appeared, was drying up owing to the 
prolonged drought, promptly set to work and caught 
as many individuals as possible, and transferred them 
to the main river. It is to be hoped that other gentlemen, 
when brought face to face with a similar problem to that 
which confronted Mr. White, will emulate his excellent 
example, and by acting with equal prompitude not only 
save the lives of scores of useful food fishes, but be the 
means of disseminating them over a wider area. No 
praise can be too great to offer to anyone, who, in this 
country where the great object of many of the inhabitants 
appears to be how most quickly and surely to exterminate 
the wonderful native fauna with which the land has been 
so richly endowed, expends time and money on such a 
cause, even though, putting utility aside, it be one of 
common humanity alone. 
