960 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



duce useful plants, animals, birds, and fishes. Our society was greatly 

 encouraged by the success which had attended the efforts of one of our 

 worthy citizens, Mr. Thomas Henderson, to introduce the pheasant. 

 Thanks to him, this noble bird has covered the country, and we can 

 give you, and all sportsmen who may come this way, almost as good 

 shooting as you can get in your preserves at home. You would be de- 

 lighted to see so many of your old favorites, which we have introduced 

 with great success — the finches, linnets, blackbirds, yellowhammers, 

 buntings, the unjustly abused house-sparrow, and, above all, that most 

 charming of English song-birds, the sky -lark. Latterly our society has 

 turned its attention to the introduction of trout and salmon — both 

 brown trout and salmon-trout are promising to succeed — and in a few 

 years I hope to see the disciples of gentle old Izaak Walton having many 

 a good day's sport. Hitherto our efforts to introduce salmon have been 

 total failures. About a week ago, however, fortune favored us. It 

 happened in this wise : The mail-steamer Vasco de Gama arrived with 

 40,000 salmon ova for the Acclimatization Society at Napier. Unfor- 

 tunately the supply of ice had run out, and the gentleman in charge, 

 fearing a total loss if the ova were sent on, kindly and wisely, as it has 

 turned out, offered us half the consignment. Late one night our curator 

 called at my house and informed me of the state of affairs, and w^ 

 immediately placed 10,000 of the ova in our fish-house to be hatched. 

 The remaining 10,000 we could not accommodate. I proposed to place 

 them in some of the southern rivers in this province, but as none of 

 the council could go, or, perhaps, knew the rivers so well as myself, 

 I volunteered to see the work done. Not an hour was to be lost 

 when I took it in hand. I had some ice made at once, and setting Tre- 

 main, one of my workmen, to make the necessary appliances, in a very 

 short time I was off with my i^recious cargo. The railway and a river 

 steamer put me 100 miles south in a few hours. I had telegraphed to 

 a sporting friend to have his trap ready, and next morning we started 

 bright and early for the mountain streams. Fortunately the weather 

 turned bitterly cold, and by dint of constant attention and an abundant 

 use of ice and cold water, I kept the ova in the priraest and healthiest 

 condition. Besides my sporting friend, Mr. E. Kirkwood,I had requested 

 my manager at Matamata, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Chitty, of the armed 

 constabulary, to be ready to lend a hand. This latter gentleman, besides 

 being a true sportsman, is a most excellent oflicer, whom I hope to see 

 shortly get the promotion he well merits. Besides these, I had pressed 

 into the service O'Neill, an A. C, well up in salmon. Bob, one of my 

 own Maoris, and Turner, a fine specimen of the half-caste. My little 

 party were a hearty lot, and went at it con amove. We had two days' 

 real hard work, but very pleasant nevertheless. \ Up in the morning early, 

 with the help of good horse-tiesh, cushions of elastic fern to prevent vibra- 

 tion, ice, water, and bundles of fern to keep out the heat, we conveyed 

 our ova over long distances and rough roads as tenderly as though we 



