962 KEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



our plant would have been made, when a loud voice in broad Scotch hailed 

 me with " Hey, mon, ye mauna pit the sawuion in there ; that place is foo 

 o' eels ; the Maori chiels catch bushels o' 'em." Looking up, I said, " My 

 good man, what do you know about salmon ?" " Eh, mon, 1 cam frae 

 Blair Athol, an' I ken a' aboot sawmou ; diuua pit 'em there. I can 

 show ye a muckle better spot. Come wi' me and I'll show it the noo." 

 The old man was so earnest that, though I was anxious to put them 

 under the water without delay — for the sun on this last. morning was 

 coming out hot and our ice had just run out — that I at once put up my 

 ova and told the old man to lead the way to a better place. Slowly we 

 toiled up the hill, carrying our traps as best we could, and mounting our 

 trap, our conductor taking a short cut. When the trap could go no 

 farther, we alighted, and trudged after him in the broiling sun. At 

 length I began to feel hungry and angry, for I feared the ova would 

 hatch before I could get them under water. " Bide a wee, bide a wee, 

 mon, yonner it is." There was nothing for it but to keep moving. At 

 last he led us down to the stream — and a very charming spot it was. 

 " Ah, now," said I, " I shall forgive you," for I felt the old man knew 

 the ground better than I. We quickly and joyfully made our plant, and 

 sitting down on a huge moss-grown rock in midstream, round which the 

 clear cold water rippled and dashed with sweet and cheery music, I 

 could not help saying to my companion, " What rare sport some of those 

 who come after us will have in this glorious spot, if our little friends do 

 their duty and grow into big fishes." 1 am no sportsman, but had I 

 been an artist, I would have sketched the scene with myself and Bob 

 sitting on the grey old stone with our legs dangling in the clear cold 

 water as it rippled by. Gathering up our traps we turned joyfully home- 

 wards, for we noticed that the ova were already hatching, coming out of 

 their shell as we put them in the water. The King Maoris, and indeed 

 everybody, were delighted with our work — the former greeting us with 

 " Kapai te hamona ; all the same as the tin " — meaning, that salmon was 

 very good, being like the salmon preserved in tins, which they appreciate 

 highly. I ought to say that at every stream where I made a plant, I posted 

 up a notice in Maori and English, requesting every one not to disturb 

 the ova, so that in a few years there might be abundance of food for 

 both Maori and European. And now our work was done. We had 

 been enabled to place this salmon ova in ten streams falling into the 

 rivers Thames, Piako, Waikato, and Waipa, in the hope that, by God's 

 blessing, these " king of fishes " may, in coming time, increase and 

 multiply, so that abundance of food may be provided for poor as well as 

 rich, for — 



All things living he doth feed, 

 His full hand supplies their need. 



Pardon this long, but I hope not tiresome story, and believe me, 



Yours, truly, 



J. C. FIRTH. 

 Auckland, N. Z., November 16, 1875. 



