878 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Tlie white fungus growiiluwliicli was found so abundantly in most of 

 the boxes seemed to spring from that portion of the moss in contact 

 with the layers of dead fish; but one of the boxes was nearly free from 

 it, excei)t in the bottom layers, and in that the moss was green and 

 springy. It is probable, therefore, that the decay of the moss and the 

 growth of the fungus commenced after the hatching out and death of 

 the young fish, and was not the cause of the failure. From the circum- 

 stances that the other boxes which were opened at Christchurch and 

 Dunedin were in the same condition, it is to be concluded that the fail- 

 ure of those taken to the Te Anau Lake was not due to the long and 

 rough land journey to which they were subjected, so that with the ex- 

 perience now gained, and with some modification of the method adopted 

 in packing the ova-boxes, so that they may be thoroughly surrounded 

 with ice, I feel confident that future consignments can be safely conveyed 

 to our large Alpine lakes, where they have the best chance of thriving. 

 The ova that escaped destruction were those which were protected from 

 the drip of the melting, ice, and were therefore comparatively dry, and 

 in such a position that they were at the same time kept at a low tem- 

 perature by the ice resting immediately above them. It did not appear 

 to me that too much moss had been i)laced in the boxes, which has been 

 suggested as a reason for the failure, but, when the fungus had grown, 

 the moss was necessarily crushed into less space and formed into a sod- 

 den mass. At the same time I would recommend that in future experi- 

 ments the gauze on which the eggs are spread should be stretched on 

 light frames supported at proper intervals by intermediate corner pieces ; 

 but these and other suggestions I will defer for another report upon the 

 subject, after conferring with Mr. Firth at Auckland. 



The experiment on this occasion has been so far successful that a few 

 hundred fish, at least, wiU be turned out in Te Anau Lake, and I have 

 recommended that the fish hatched in Dunedin, of which there are about 

 a thousand, should be sent to the Wanaka Lake, and the small number 

 (about a dozen) obtained at Christchurch to Lake Coleridge. 



I have, &c., 



JAMES HECTOR. 

 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, 



Wellington. 



[luclosure 1 in No. 30.] 

 Mr. 8. Serhert Cox to Dr. Hector. 



Te Anau, February 20, 1878. 



Sir : You will be pleased to hear that the whitefish are doing very- 

 well. They are all hatched out and are feeding well on the blood which 

 they are having given them. 



But very few have died, and, if cold be an essential to their existence, 



