STONE OVERLAND TRIP WITH LIVING FISHES IN 1879. 643 



to-day, there being no hope of their surviving the journey. Now that 

 the new method of carrying eels has been discovered, I will not attempt 

 to explain why these ajl died. I will only say that a large number of 

 eels cannbt be carried over four days in a tank containing pure, clear 

 water. 



No further mishap occurred during the journey. We passed the Lar- 

 amie plains into the Eocky Mountains in safety, and on the morning of 

 Tuesday, June 17, descended into the valley of Great Salt Lake, at Og- 

 den, with lobsters, striped bass, black bass, and the remaining eels in 

 splendid order. 



We made the transfer to the Central Pacific Bailroad at Ogden suc- 

 cessfully, and renewed our anxious journey with lighter hearts and more 

 hope of favorable results than we had dared to entertain in all the pre- 

 vious part of the journey. Cheered by the hope of getting the fish 

 through alive, we redoubled our exertions and kept at work with the 

 dippers every minute aerating the tcater in the tanks night and day till we 

 reached Sacramento, June 12, at 10.3'J a. m. Here we were met by Hon. 

 B. B. Bedding, secretary of the California fish commission, and many 

 friends of the enterprise, and it was with great gratification that we 

 showed them the lobsters, striped bass, eels, and black bass in perfect 

 condition. No more trouble was encountered after this, and the fishes 

 reached their various destinations safely. Some of the eels were placed 

 in the Sacramento Biver and the remainder were left in Alameda Creek. 

 The striped bass were placed in brackish water, in the Sacramento, 

 near Martinez. The black bass were taken to San Mateo by Mr. Mason, 

 and put into the Crystal Spring reservoir, in San Mateo County. The 

 lobsters were carried to Oakland wharf by the writer, where they were 

 met by a steamer chartered for the purpose, which took them to the 

 Bonito lighthouse, under the shadow of which, in a sheltered bay a few 

 miles outside the Golden Gate, I had the pleasure of placing them with 

 my own hands — the first lobsters ever introduced into the Pacific Ocean. 

 They were all in splendid order except one, and had with them over a 

 million eggs nearly ready to hatch. 



Thus terminated one of the most important and difficult expeditions 

 ever attempted with living fishes. The dangers they had to encounter 

 were innumerable. It seemed as if only a miracle could save them, but 

 they escaped all their dangers, and the result was as gratifying as it was 

 unexpected. 



Before closing this report I wish to make my grateful acknowledgments 

 to the railroad companies over whose roads we passed, viz, Boston and 

 Albany, New York Central, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, Chi- 

 cago, Burlington and Quincy, Union Pacific, and Central Pacific, from 

 all of whom the expedition received the utmost courtesy and the most 

 thorough co-operation. Below will be found a table of the temperatures 

 at which the fish were kept during the journey. 



