996 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Wellington, May 31, 1877. 

 Sir : With reference to the offer which you kindly made in your 

 letter of the 7th ultimo, addressed to Dr. Hector, I have the honor to 

 request that arrangements may be made for the transmission to this 

 colony during next season of 500,000 of the ova of the Californiau 

 salmon, and 250,000 of the ova of lake whitefish [Coregonus alhus). 

 I have, &c., 



G. S. COOPER.* 

 Professor Baird, 



Commissioner^ United States Fisheries Commission, Washington. 



Canterbury Acclimatization Society, 



Christchurchy March 22, 1877. 



Dear Sir : I have to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your 

 memoranda re American salmon and whitefish and add that I am 

 very sorry it did not reach us until the information contained in the 

 last clause relating to whitefish was too late. 



It is with the deepest regret I have to inform you that we believe 

 every one of the fish has been lost, although hopes are entertained that 

 some may turn up in our races. 



The loss seems to have occurred in the following manner : When they 

 were first hatched out, it was observed, from time to time, that the 

 numbers increased in the lowest boxes, where, after careful watching, 

 the discovery was made that they, with perfect freedom, passed through 

 the perforated zinc placed at the lower end of the box. This has always 

 been found sufficient to prevent our smallest trout escaping ; and, hav- 

 ing heard of the great weight the whitefish grew to be, it seemed consis- 

 tent to think, ere the ova reached us, that no other i:)reparation was nec- 

 essary than had been for trout and salmon, which had been so signally 

 successful in the same boxes the same season. However, experience 

 proved the fact, and fine muslin was strained over the zinc, which for a 

 time had the desired eflect ; but it was soon found that the food (finely- 

 grated liver) clogged that material, so that it required constant atten- 

 tion — and from close inquiries we find this was given early and late — 

 and the evening previous to the discovery of the loss the curator had 

 attended to them himself. The next morning he found the water over- 

 flowing the boxes, and all but six or seven of the fish gone. Search was 

 made for them, a few found dead on the floor of the house, but nothing 

 equal to the number we had in the boxes ; so that, as we have a race 

 running through the house, we trust that ere long some of them may 

 turn up. 



Much as the loss may be and is deplored, I trust the above explana- 

 tion of the cause will be accepted with good grace, so that the disaster 



* Under secretary of the Government of New Zealand. 



