EXPORTATION OF FISHES AND HATCHING APPARATUS, 973 



Eespecting the memorandum from the Hon. Dr. Menzies, I concur in 

 the importance of carrying out to its completion, as he suggests, the ex- 

 periment of acclimatizing the English salmon, which has so far been 

 successful in the shipment by the Durham last year. 



But any further expenditure I think should be directed to the intro- 

 duction of American salmon. In case the funds voted are not sufficient 

 both for the maintenance of the Southland ponds and for the introduc- 

 tion of American ova, I think the preference should be given to the 

 former. 



JAMES HECTOR. 



October 17, 187G. 



San Francisco, Cal., October 10, 1876. 

 Sir : In continuation of my letter of 12th September, 1870, 1 have to 

 state, for the information of the honorable the premier, that through 

 the active agency of Messrs. Cross & Co., of this city, acting for the 

 Auckland Acclimatization Society, Professor Baird, United States Com- 

 missioner of Fish and Fisheries, rescinded his previous order, and gave 

 instructions to Mr. Stone, the officer in charge of the McCloud Eiver 

 establishment, to send supplies of salmon ova to New Zealand. 



2. Messrs. Cross kindly permitted me to peruse this correspondence, 

 and as Professor Baird expressed his keen sense of dissatisfaction at the 

 want of courtesy by the consignees of the first shipment of salmon ova 

 to New Zealand, I felt it to be my duty to explain how this had unavoid- 

 ably occurred. Professor Baird replied to my letter in a spirit of friendly 

 interest in the experiment ; and I have written informing him that the 

 ova are on board, and that he will be kept fully apprised of the result 

 of the experiment in every stage. 



3. As this is the only occasion on which the Commission on Food 

 Fishes of the United States has forwarded a supply of salmon eggs to a 

 foreign country, it is important that it should be notified of the most 

 minute facts observed during the progress of the experiment. If suc- 

 cessful, the commission will have added enormously to the food supply 

 of New Zealand, thereby increasing the wealth and comfort of the popu- 

 lation, and providing an inducement to settlement of the most valuable 

 character. 



4. I likewise wrote to Mr. L. Stone, United States commissioner, Eed- 

 diug, Cal., in charge of the McCloud Eiver establishment, explaining to 

 him substantially, as I had previously done to Professor Baird, the cause 

 of non-acknowledgment by the consignees of the receipt of the ova, and 

 impressing upon him the importance of sending the full quantity author- 

 ized. Mr. Stone having gone East about this time, I received no reply; 

 but I am pleased to say that the ova arrived in good order to-day, and 

 are packed in the ice-house of the Zealandia, which has been set apart 

 for this purpose. 



5. The shipment for the New Zealand Government, addressed to Dr. 



