27 



it will cause the above results to all fish at the time confined to 

 such waters." 



Mr. H. A. Stigling, of Lambert's Bay, reported that " no 

 dead fish of any description has been washed up here." 



With regard to the occurrence at Knysna, I had recently 

 (February, 1914) an opportunity of witnessing a phenomenon 

 .such as is described above as a normal yearly occurrence at this 

 place. On the morning of the 7th, I was informed by Mr. 

 Henkel that, while fishing the previous night, he noticed when 

 renewing his bait that it felt very cold, and that the water had 

 turned suddenly cold. His companions also noticed the strik- 

 ing fact. The fish ceased to bite, and only one Dogfish was 

 caught subsequently. In the morning they were informed that 

 a large fish (a " Blauer " — Chrysophrys sp.) had been found 

 dead on the beach, and on further search a large Hottentot 

 [Cantharus blochii) was discovered. These fish were respec- 

 tively about 3 feet and i^ feet in length. In the rock pools 

 several Streepjes {Box salpa) were found dead. A series of 

 temperature observations were taken on the same morning 

 from near the village of Knysna to the " heads," where the 

 lagoon opens by a somewhat narrow channel to the sea. The 

 series was begun at the head of a side channel, the temperature 

 of the air being 86° F. In this channel the temperature varied 

 from 76 -2° to 75° as follows : y6 -2°, 76°, 75 -8°, 75 -5°, 75°, 75°, 

 75 '5°^ 75 '5°) 75°- ^^ entering the main channel little differ- 

 ence was at first observed, the temperature being as follows : 

 74°) 70 '5°' 69°, 66°, 69°. At this point it was then observed 

 that the lagoon was occupied with bodies of water of strikinglv 

 different appearance, and sharply marked off from each other. 

 One was of dark blue, the other of slightly pale muddy, greenish 

 colour. The fisherman in charge of the boat said that the 

 former was warm water and the latter was cold, and was quite 

 familiar with the condition. This was found to be the case. 

 The boat was moved to the dividing line and the blue water 

 was found to be 72°, while a few feet away the green water was 

 63 -5°, a difference of 8 -5°. This mixed water was then passed 

 and thereafter, up to the sea, it was a constant temperature 

 of 60° in the three observations taken at intervals of about 

 half a mile. A number of seagulls were observed at one place 

 and the fishermen said we would probably find some dead or 

 dying fish here. One was at last seen floating belly upwards 

 in the water and moving its fins slowly as if in a stupefied condi- 

 tion. On being touched it struggled and dived into the water 

 only, however, to come up again shortly. The return journey 

 was made by the main channel sometime after the tide had 

 turned, setting in strongly into the lagoon, and the following 



[C.P. 6-'i4.] J) 



