EXPORTATION OF FISHES AND HATCHING APPARATUS. 975 



San Francisco, Cal., September 20, 187G. 

 Sir : Messrs. Cross & Co., San Francisco, read to me your letter 

 authorizing Mr. L. Stone to prepare for shipment for l^ew Zeahmd, by 

 the October steamer, three parcels of salmon ova. I have the honor to 

 thank you on behalf of the consignees for the liberality of your order, 

 and your kindness in overlooking the informal applications from New- 

 Zealand. The consignees will themselves, in due course, thank the 

 United States Fishery Commission, and present their apologies for any 

 seeming disrespect of which you may have had reason to complain. 



2. Permit me to explain, however, that the first shipment of ova, 

 through Mr. Duffy, of Sau Francisco, for Napier, never reached its 

 destination. The steamship having it on board went direct to Sydney, 

 and, failing to obtain a fresh supply of ice there, it was found that the 

 ova had begun to hatch out on arrival in Auckland, New Zealand, on 

 the up trip ; whereupon Mr. J. C. Firth took a portion of the eggs and 

 placed them in the Auckland Acclimatization Society's ponds ; the re- 

 sult was that a considerable proportion was saved, and young, healthy 

 fish were deposited in a few streams in the province of Auckland. So 

 far the experiment was a success ; but writing of it, credit was given 

 by the local press, entirely through ignorance of the facts, to Columbia 

 Eiver, and not to the McCloud River establishment of the United States 

 Fishery Commissioners. Had the ova arrived at their destination, doubt- 

 less the mistake would not have occurred. 



3. Finding that ova of California salmon could be successfully intro- 

 duced into New Zealand (experiments from Great Britain theretofore 

 having failed) the Auckland Acclimatization Society, in concert with a 

 similar society in Christchurch, in the Middle Island of New Zealand, 

 in which there are many suitable streams, applied through Cross & Co., 

 as you are aware, for 150,000 eggs ; Hon. Mr. Ormond, superintendent 

 of Hawkes Bay, applied through Mr. Duffy of this city, for 50,000; and 

 Dr. Hector, while in Washington, also applied for 50,000 on behalf of 

 the New Zealand Government, for which, also, he was commissioner at 

 the Centennial Exposition. (I have used the figures in Dr. Baird's letter 

 as the quantities applied for.) These are the parcels of which you have 

 been pleased to authorize the shipment, and for which, I have no doubt, 

 you shall be officially thanked. 



4. I have noted your remark to Messrs. Cross, and will communicate the 

 same to the New Zealand Government and the other parties interested, 

 that "This contribution has been made by the United States Fishery 

 Commission from its establishment at McCloud River, California, and 

 that the credit arising from the successful experiment should be assigned 

 to the United States Government for its action in the matter ; also that 

 the consignees shall address their acknowledgments, as well as an ac- 

 count of the condition of the eggs and their subsequent experience of 

 the fish, to you, as Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Smithsonian 

 Institution, Washington." 



