BRITAINS BEYOND THE SEAS 269 



present meagre. The Assistant Colonial Secretary 

 in the Orange River Colony wrote : 



" BLOEMFONTEIN, 

 13th February 1906. 



"My Dear Hodgson, I am delighted to hear from 

 you again but first as to business. In the rivers 

 that flow through my particular region there are no 

 fish of the salmon kind. Indeed, the rivers are un- 

 suitable for these lively fish owing to their habit of 

 being dry for most part of the year. A breed likely 

 to do well in our Orange River Colony must needs 

 be amphibious, and that variety has not yet been 

 found. In Natal, I believe, much has been done. I 

 shall be in Pietermaritzburg in March, and I will 

 ask some of the Natalians how the trout fare, and 

 report the result. I will also inquire in the 

 Transvaal. . . . Yours ever, 



BASIL BLACKWOOD." 



At the time of going to press, I am sorry to say, 

 the particularised accounts from Natal and the 

 Transvaal are still to come. Meanwhile it is 

 pleasant to notice in the newspapers reports to the 

 effect, that attempts to acclimatise British fish in 

 certain streams of the South African Colonies are 

 successful in unexpected measure. 



As regards another part of the Empire, our 

 chronicle, though very important in one respect, is 

 brief. The enthusiastic sportsman who was Governor 

 and Commander-in-Chief in South Australia for a 

 period from 1889, wrote : 



