10 Report of the American 



to send as a present to the Californians, and which were ah-eady on the 

 way. 



In accordance with Mr. Throckmorton's request, I went in January, 

 1873, to Clear Lake, in Lake County, California, in company with Mr. 

 John G. Woodbury, my assistant on the McCloud River, and afterwards 

 superintendent of the California State Hatching Works, and we finally 

 selected a place for the white fish eggs on Kelsey Creek, near Clear Lake, 

 where Mr. Woodbury put up suitable hatching works, and where he 

 hatched out 25,000 white fish, which he afterwards placed in good condi- 

 tion in various portions of Clear Lake. This is the first introduction of 

 white fish (Coregonus albus) into the waters of the Pacific slope. 



CALIFOENIA AQUARIUM CAR. 



During the latter part of March I came east with instructions from the 

 California Commissioners to bring to California a car load of the best 

 varieties of the fishes of the Atlantic slope, the kinds and numbers being 

 left to ni}^ discretion. This was the beginning of the California aquarium 

 car expedition, which came to so unfortunate an end. My plan was to 

 take twelve varieties of living fish in the car, and as man}' of each 

 variet}' as the space at my command in the car would permit. This plan 

 was actually carried into practice, and the fish were gathered from the 

 Raritan River, Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts Ba}', the Hudson River^ 

 Lake Champlain, the Connecticut River, and other points on the eastern 

 coast, to the number of twelve varieties, and started on their wa}- across 

 the Continent. It was a terrible undertaking. I cannot find words to 

 express the care, anxiet}-, the risks, the labors, and the hardships that it 

 involved. Only those who have travelled with living fish can ever know 

 what incessant vigilance, what untiring labor, and what constant care 

 was required to get together this car load of fish and to keep them alive 

 till the time for starting, and to carr}' them alive, as we did with few ex- 

 ceptions, for over five daj's and nights of consecutive railroad travel. I 

 will only say that every one on the car worked activel}' twenty-one hours 

 out of the twenty-four during the whole five days, and had, of course, 

 during that time only three hours a day of such rest as he could get with 

 the car in motion, and when we came into Omaha the night after the 

 accident we all looked as if we had been through a week's serious illness. 

 We were successful, however, to a wholly unexpected degree. The large 

 spawning bass and catfish, about 200 in all, were living and in good 

 order. The full grown yellow perch, glass eyed pike, and horn pouts 

 did nearl}^ as well. The young perch and glass eyed pike had hardly 

 met with any loss. Only seven out of the thousand brook trout had 

 died, and what were left were in excellent condition. Not one of the 



