876 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The necessary instructions have been sent to the railway officers at 

 •Invercargill to co-ojierate with you, and rendering every assistance in 

 the transport of the ova. 

 I have, &c., 



G. S. WHITMORE. 

 James Hector, M. D., F. E. S., C. M. G., 



No. 30. 

 James Sector^ Esq., M. B., to the Eon. tlie Colonial Secretary. 



Wellington, 31arch 5, 1878. 



Sir : I have the honor to report that, in accordance with your instruc- 

 tions, I have distributed the cases of whitefish ova received by the last 

 San Francisco mail in the following manner : 



Eight boxes, each containing 50,000 ova, were received in Wellington 

 by the steamship Ilawea on the 19th ultimo, packed in two large ice- 

 chests, two boxes having been left in Auckland. The four ova-boxes 

 half fiUed each chest, the space above being tilled with broken ice and 

 non-conducting pads. The chests stood on the fore-hatch, which is a 

 convenient and safe position, but liable to the objection that the ova- 

 boxes have to be moved at every port, and that they might be influenced 

 by the vibration of the steam- winch. ' 



At Lyttelton one chest was opened, and two of the small ova-boxes 

 were left with Mr. G. S. Farr, honorary secretary to the Christchurch 

 Acclimatization Society. I should state that one of these boxes had the 

 cover loose. The space in that chest was filled up with ice and blanket- 

 ing, and at Port Chalmers it was delivered, with the two remaining 

 ova-boxes, to Mr. Arthur, of the Otago Acclimatization Society, with 

 instructions to hand one of them to Mr. Connell, or his agent, for the 

 Oamaru Acclimatization Society, on application. 



The other chest and the spare ice, of which I got a fresh supply at 

 Dunedin, were then transshipj)ed to the steamship Wanganui, the sail- 

 ing of which had been delayed twenty-four hours through the liberality 

 of the owners — Messrs. Houghton & Co. Notice having been previously 

 given, a special train was awaiting my arrival at the Bluff, but the 

 steamer being later than was expected there was a little delay at Inver- 

 cargill, so that it was not until 1 o'clock p. m. that we reached the El- 

 bow. 



The two chests, one containing the spare ice, and the other the ova, 

 weighing about 600 pounds, were transferred to an American wagon 

 with leather braces, and, having covered them with blankets and our 

 tent, a start was made at 2.30 p. m. 



The arrangements for the conveyance of the ova from the Elbow to 

 Lake Te Anau, upon which the success of the experiment so much de- 

 pended, had been made by Captain Hankinson with great judgment. 



